The Marauder Years
by Haronione
Summary: Making friends, pulling pranks, falling in love and jinxing enemies - It's all part of life at Hogwarts. Follow Lily and the Marauders through their years at Hogwarts as they find out that friends are not always what you expected, pranks can backfire, love is not always reciprocated and enemies can give as good as they get.
1. An Expected Letter

**Authors Note - **The first 5 chapters of this story were previously posted under the penname xtigerlilyx, an account I can no longer access. It was posted pre-deathly hallows and has now been edited to keep it canon. I hope you enjoy reading, leave a review if you do :-)

**1. An Expected Letter**

'What do you two want to do today? I'm afraid we'll have to cancel our day trip to the beach; the weather report says it's going to rain. Sorry girls.'

For once it looked like the weather report was right. Despite the heat and humidity, the sky was covered in thick, grey clouds threatening to burst open at any moment, making the great outdoors seem dull and uninviting. Being the last week of July – and the start of the summer holidays – the sun should be shining, invoking energy filled youngsters to play merrily in its rays, but it obviously had other ideas today.

Lily and Petunia Evans had been looking forward to a day at the beach all week and, at their mother's words, exchanged disappointed looks. Mrs Evans, who was placing cereals and milk, toast, butter, jam and marmalade on the kitchen table, noticed her daughters' expressions and immediately felt bad. She hated disappointing her children, especially as they rarely disappointed her.

'We can do anything you like,' she said apologetically. 'Bowling, swimming, ice skating – well, any indoor activity you want.'

'Bowling!' Lily and Petunia said in unison, their faces instantly lighting up again.

Mrs Evans smiled as she sat down at the table opposite them, thinking how easy it had been to placate her children.

'Bowling it is then!'

'Yeah, me and Petunia against you and dad,' Lily said nudging Petunia in the arm.

'Okay, we may just beat you this time though!'

'I doubt it mum, me and Lily are an unbeatable team,' Petunia said grinning.

'There is no disputing that dear. Eat up then, you can't play on an empty stomach.'

As they poured their cereal and buttered their toast, a loud clap of thunder sounded in the distance and the first drops of rain started to fall. It quickly turned into a heavy downpour, the rain lashing at the windows, obscuring the garden from view.

'Ah good, I guess I won't be getting buried in the sand today then!'

Mr Evans, a tall, stocky man with a receding hairline and a friendly face, had strolled into the kitchen just as a fork of lightning lit the sky and another crash of thunder boomed, nearer and louder this time.

'Not today dad, we're going bowling instead.'

'Bowling? And you agreed to this Rose? I don't think I could handle another defeat!' Mr Evans said, winking at Lily and Petunia.

'We'll go easy on you dad, we know you're getting old!' Lily said cheekily.

'I'll have you know I'm still in my prime, full of life I am.' Mr Evans replied. He sat down next to his wife and picked up the box of cornflakes, but put it back down and stood up again as the clatter of the letterbox announced the arrival of the post. 'I'll get it.'

Lily and Petunia giggled as Mr Evans hobbled out of the kitchen hunched over, clutching his back and muttering like an old man. They heard him shuffle down the hall, still in character. When he returned with the post he was walking normally.

'Anything interesting, Roger?'

'Nope, it's all bills and junk mail by the looks of it,' he replied sifting through the mail. 'A postcard for Petunia, blimey Belinda's only been gone a week, she must be missing you already,' he handed Petunia the postcard with a grin. 'Ooh and a fancy letter for Lily. There you go love.'

Lily put down her spoon, took the parchment envelope her father was proffering, and gazed at it for a long time. There was no stamp, the address was elegantly written in emerald green ink and on the back was a wax seal with a large letter H on it, surrounded by a snake, a badger, a lion and an eagle. Lily's excitement mounted, she had been expecting this letter. This envelope looked exactly the same as the one Severus had shown her less than 24 hours ago.

Petunia abandoned her postcard and looked from Lily, to the letter, and back to Lily again in disbelief. While Lily had been expecting this letter with excitement, Petunia had been hoping it wouldn't come at all.

'Are you going to open it, Lily? Or are you just going to stare at it?'

Lily, not registering the petulant tone in which her sister had asked the question, smiled up at Petunia before starting to carefully open the seal of the envelope. She lifted the flap and pulled out several pieces of parchment, which she unfolded and began to read the top page.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Evans, _

_We are writing to inform you that you possess a strong magical ability which has been registered with us. We are pleased to offer you a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed information about the school and the magical world, and a list of all necessary books and equipment needed._

_I hope this has not come as too much of a shock to you. Term begins on 1st September; an owl will collect your reply on 31st July._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

As she read, Lily's eyes grew wide and a smile of relief formed on her face. She _was _a witch! She _did_ possess magical abilities! Severus had been telling her the truth! As much as she had wanted to believe Severus about all he had told her, there had been a small part of her that felt that maybe Petunia was right. Right from the first meeting with Severus Petunia had admonished Lily for believing such rubbish. She had been adamant that magic did not exist and that Severus had purely told Lily this tall story to ensnare her, to forge a friendship with her.

Lily remained silent, looking through the other pieces of parchment with a faraway look on her face. Just as the letter said, there was a list of books, uniform and other items, such as a wand and a cauldron, instructions on how to get to a place called Diagon Alley and on how to get on to platform 9 ¾ in Kings Cross, and a long piece of parchment outlining the statute of secrecy and other wizarding laws.

Daydreaming about the magical world, as she so often did, Lily stared at the letter, the sounds of the thunderstorm outside and the intrigued voices of her family blanked out. It was only when Petunia nudged Lily in the ribs that she was brought out of her reverie and realised that she was being spoken to.

'Who's it from?'

'Don't keep us in suspense, what does it say?'

Mr and Mrs Evans' were curious as they wondered what on earth could be written in the letter that would have their chatterbox daughter sitting in silence with a look of relief and happiness on her face. Their intrigued tone made Lily really wish she had confided in her parents the way she had in her sister for the past year. Yes, they knew about Lily's friendship with Severus, and Petunia had told her mother about him calling Lily a witch during their first meeting, but neither girl had mentioned magic to them again – Lily because she hadn't wanted her parents reacting like Petunia, and Petunia because she hadn't wanted them to believe it like Lily did.

Lily looked up at her parents, pushing her vibrant red hair away from her face. She hesitated, unsure how they would take the news, before finally speaking. 'I'm a witch!'

'What?'

'The letter says I possess a magical ability and I've been offered a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' Lily said, pausing before adding, 'just as Severus said I would.'

Mrs Evans studied her daughters face in shock, looking for the usual signs Lily showed when she was teasing or joking. She found none. The mischievous twinkle was missing from her bright, excited green eyes. Her lips, rather than curling at the corners as she tried to hide her grin, were set in a delighted smile, beaming from ear to ear. Mrs Evans knew instantly that her youngest daughter was telling the truth.

'Severus? Your friend from the park? How... what... You knew about this?' Mr Evans asked his daughter, perplexed, as his wife calmly asked to see the letter.

'Yes, she means _that boy_ from the park.' Petunia answered as Lily nodded at her father and handed the letter to her mother. 'He has been filling her head with this nonsense for the past year! You should hear the things he's been telling her, a load of mumbo jumbo about magic and spells and... and... dementors. He's no good, that boy, he's mad!'

'Petunia!' Lily said. 'Severus is my friend, and he is not mad!'

'Lily, you don't still believe him do you? He told you that letters came by owl but that your letter would be hand delivered! And yet it has come by normal post, this just proves he's a liar! That letter is obviously from him as part of his elaborate practical joke!'

'It's not a practical joke!' Lily stated firmly.

'Well, it doesn't seem to be, a lot of effort and imagination has been put into it if it is. It certainly isn't the work of an eleven year old boy.' Mrs Evans interrupted the brewing argument between her daughters, hearing only the last statement from Lily as she had been too engrossed by the letter. She now looked at her daughter with an excited smile. 'Ooh Lily, how exciting! Now, tell me everything this Severus boy has told you.'

Mr Evans took the letter from his wife as Lily began recalling the many meetings she'd had with Severus. Mrs Evans listened, fascinated by the information her daughter was so animatedly telling her, and Mr Evans perused the letter, the confused shock he had originally felt ebbing away. Petunia simply stared at her mother in disbelief – how could she so readily believe this nonsense?

As Lily's story came to an end, Mr Evans put down the letter with a smile. 'I always knew there was something special about my little Lily!'

Lily looked at her father, her smile growing wider. Petunia was also looking at Mr Evans but with a look that portrayed the hurt and anger that she felt.

'It certainly explains a few things.' Mr Evans continued, not noticing his eldest daughter's expression. 'Like the time you didn't want me to go to work and my shoes shrank. Very strange that was! I thought I was going mad at the time.'

'And when we bought you the wrong coloured bike for Christmas, we woke up on Boxing Day to find it had changed from purple to pink overnight!' Mrs Evans added, smiling at the memory. 'You insisted Father Christmas must have come back and changed it because you'd been such a good girl.'

Lily laughed, recalling other strange occurrences that could have been caused by her magical abilities, glad that she could finally discuss them with her parents and petunia (who had previously refused to talk about them). She turned to Petunia as one came to mind.

'Do you remember when we wanted chocolate ice cream and mum only had vanilla,' Lily said excitedly. 'When she placed it in front of us it changed to chocolate.'

Petunia remained silent, absently stirring her cereal as she continued to stare at her parents. Lily repeated, 'Do you remember Petunia?'

'No,' Petunia muttered. 'I do remember when my favourite doll ended up on the roof when I said you couldn't play with it though. And when I got locked in the cupboard under the stairs – even though there is no lock on it – just because you wanted to hide instead of seek!'

Lily laughed again.

'Oh I'm glad you think it's funny,' Petunia spat, slamming her spoon into her bowl and glaring at Lily angrily.

Lily stopped laughing instantly, placing her hand over her sister's, smiling at her kindly.

'I'm sorry Petunia, I didn't mean…'

Lily trailed off. Petunia had whipped her hand away, as though she had just been scalded, pushed her chair back and stood up.

'Why are you all so excited about this?' Petunia seethed. 'What is _so_ good about magic? From what I've seen of it the only thing that it's done is let Lily have her own way, never mind who gets hurt because of it!'

'Petunia! What happened with Severus was an accident. And I would _never_ hurt you, you know that!' Lily stated.

'Wouldn't you?' Petunia questioned with raised eyebrows, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Blinking furiously she turned to her mother, 'May I leave the table please?'

Mrs Evans, shocked by the exchange between her daughters, looked at Petunia sympathetically. Unsure what to say to placate her daughters this time, she simply said, 'But you've hardly eaten anything dear.'

'I'm not hungry.' Petunia replied, trying hard to keep the anger out of her voice.

Mrs Evans nodded and Petunia stormed out of the kitchen, avoiding looking at Lily. Lily heard the stomping footsteps ascend the stairs, cross the hallway upstairs and then the slam of Petunia's bedroom door.

Lily had mixed emotions by Petunia's angry outburst. On one hand it proved that Petunia believed in magic as much as she did despite all her previous comments about it being nonsense. On the other hand, Lily was appalled that her sister could think she would hurt her, and was also angry with herself for evidently upsetting her. Seeing the hurt, confused look on Lily's face, Mrs Evans said, 'Don't worry dear, she'll calm down. She's probably just a bit shocked.'

'Yes, don't get upset about it Lily,' Mr Evans added. 'I'll give her a while to calm down a bit then go up and speak to her. I'm sure she'll be fine again by dinner time.'

Lily wasn't so sure. She hardly ever argued with Petunia and Lily had never known her to storm off before the argument had been resolved. Petunia was obviously extremely angry at her and this anger had evidently been brewing since Lily had first met Severus. Lily felt sure that it would take more than a kind word from her father to cheer her up.

Lily was right. After breakfast Mr Evans spoke to Petunia, but to no avail. Petunia refused to speak to him, refused to leave her room and had decided she didn't want to go bowling anymore. With the day's plans ruined, Lily was eager to find Severus and tell him she had finally received her letter. But she was sure this would only fuel Petunia's feeling of resentment towards her and so stayed in the house, trying to contain the bubbles of excitement.

The following day Petunia had calmed down slightly. She was back on talking terms with Lily but became silent and sullen whenever Hogwarts was mentioned and her eyes flashed with anger every time her parents showed their pride in Lily. Lily tried several times to speak to her sister about the outburst but Petunia immediately changed the subject or simply ignored her and left the room.

July 31st dawned bright and clear. The windows in the Evans' house were thrown wide open to allow the gentle summer breeze to cool and soothe the occupants. Mrs Evans, Lily and Petunia were seated around the kitchen table, tucking into tuna sandwiches and a much needed glass of ice cold juice.

Lily had spent the morning nervously anticipating the arrival of an owl. Her reply, accepting the place at Hogwarts, lay on the kitchen side ready to be sent. As she ate, Lily kept glancing at the letter, wishing the owl would come sooner rather than later.

She didn't have to wait much longer. Halfway through lunch a large, handsome, brown barn owl flew through the open window, landing on the table, causing Petunia to scream and drop the glass she had just raised to her lips. Petunia and Lily jumped up from the table at the same time; Petunia to grab a cloth to mop up the spilt juice, and Lily to grab her letter. Mrs Evans stayed at the table, feeding the crust of her sandwich to the owl.

Petunia quickly cleaned up the mess and hurried out of the kitchen without saying a word, abandoning her half eaten lunch. Lily watched her leave then moved round the table to stand next to her mother.

'I am doing the right thing … accepting the place, aren't I?' Lily asked as she started tying the letter to the owl's leg.

'Of course you are sweetheart,' her mother replied softly.

'But… but, I'll be away from you and dad, and Petunia. And it will be so different, everything will change. Petunia obviously doesn't approve – maybe she's right!'

'Lily, you are special. Very special! You need to go. If you don't you may end up regretting it. Of course it will be a different life to the one you know now, but as we are always telling Petunia – as you are always telling Petunia – change is good, in fact it can be wonderful! This is who you are Lily, you have to go.'

'I know. It's just … just a bit scary, I'll be entering a whole new world and you won't be there with me. I've never been away from you before,' Lily said. For the first time since she had received the letter, she thought not of the magic and the fun she would have, but of the fact that she would be leaving her family and friends.

Mrs Evans took Lily's hand affectionately in her own and said, 'There has to be a first time for everything Lily. I'm really going to miss you, but you'll be home for the summer and for Christmas. You are meant to be part of this "whole new world" and, as I said, you have to go,' she said earnestly, then looking at the owl waiting patiently to take flight, added, 'Get that letter sent Lily!'

Lily finished fastening the letter, then carried the owl to the open patio doors, Mrs Evans following, and the owl spread its wings and took flight. As they watched the owl fly gracefully into the distance, Mrs Evans pulled her daughter into an embrace, holding her tight.

'Looks like I'll be going to Hogwarts then.'

Mrs Evans smiled. 'Yes. You know, not just anyone gets an opportunity like this. You truly are special and I know you'll be a great witch, the best!'

Neither Lily nor Mrs Evans noticed Petunia standing in the doorway, watching them intently, looking small and forlorn, tears prickling her eyes.


	2. Diagon Alley

**2. Diagon Alley**

The local children were congregated on the parched and browned village green, relieving themselves from the heat of the mid-August sun with a loud and energetic water fight. From his bedroom window, Remus Lupin watched them with a smile; a smile that had not left his face since yesterday afternoon.

Remus had always dreamed of attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but he'd always thought it was just that - a dream. When July 31st had come and gone, Remus had begun to feel down-hearted and despondent; the thought that other young wizards and witches his age had all received their letters and sent back their replies had made Remus dwell on his past and brought back the memories he tried so hard to forget.

Yesterday Remus' dreams had come true though, yesterday Remus had received his Hogwarts letter. After opening the letter in total bewilderment, he read and re-read it several times before it finally sunk in. He was going to Hogwarts.

The letter explained that arrangements had been made for his transformations each month, meaning he could attend Hogwarts without jeopardising the safety of the denizens of the castle or the surrounding areas. It also stated that Remus should attend a meeting with Professor Dumbledore before breakfast on his first morning at Hogwarts to discuss the arrangements.

Remus had been speechless for a few moments, unable to believe that this was actually happening to him. Unable to believe that he, a werewolf, had been invited to attend Hogwarts with all the other young witches and wizards. The shock soon wore off, his stomach filled with bubbles of excitement and his mind raced with thoughts of the place he never thought he would go to. Dumbledore would never know just how much it meant to Remus, or Mr Lupin.

Mr Lupin had been almost as excited as Remus when he heard the news. He had always blamed himself for Remus's condition, as he called it, and had felt terrible when he thought Remus could not attend Hogwarts. Knowing now that Remus would not miss out on his magical education eased the pain of the guilt he'd been carrying around for the last six years, although only slightly. Mr Lupin had immediately contacted work, and managed to get the following afternoon off work, wanting to make a family trip to Diagon Alley to get Remus' school things as soon as possible.

Ever since, Remus had been unable to think about, or concentrate on, anything else. So now, after trying to read the Muggle book his grandmother had given him, but finding himself reading the same paragraph over and over without taking any of it in, he stood at his window waiting for his father to return home from work.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Remus heard the 'pop' of his father Apparating into the living room downstairs.

His smile widening, Remus bounded out of his room, down the stairs and into the living room. His parents were already standing by the fireplace, ready to leave.

'I was just about to call you, Remus, but I guess you've been listening out for your father,' Mrs Lupin said, a smile playing on her lips.

'Of course he has, this isn't just any old shopping trip. This is a very special occasion.' Mr Lupin smiled widely at Remus. 'I never thought we'd be taking a trip to get Remus' school things, but obviously Dumbledore saw what great potential our Remus has. I've always said Dumbledore was a great man.'

'He certainly is,' Mrs Lupin agreed. 'We have a lot to be grateful to him for. Are you ready then, Remus?'

Remus nodded enthusiastically, thinking about how happy his parents were about him going to Hogwarts, if he hadn't known better he would have thought they couldn't wait to get rid of him. But he knew for certain that that wasn't the case. He grinned to himself, wondering what they would be like on the first of September if they were this excited about a shopping trip.

Mr Lupin grabbed the pot of floo powder off the mantelpiece and held it out to Mrs Lupin. 'You go first, dear, Remus and I will follow after.'

Remus watched as his mother took a pinch of floo powder, stepped into the fireplace and then disappeared in a flash of green flames. Mr Lupin then held the pot out to Remus. Remus did as his mother had and stepped into the fireplace with a pinch of floo powder. He hated travelling by floo network, it always made him feel slightly nauseous, but he wasn't going to complain.

Dropping the floo powder into the grate as he said, 'the Leaky Cauldron,' Remus took one last look at his father before being engulfed by green flames and began whirling through the floo network. He kept his eyes tightly shut and his arms firmly clasped by his side until he stopped spinning and felt his feet hit solid ground.

When he opened his eyes Remus found himself in the Leaky Cauldron, his mother standing in front of him brushing the soot off her robes.

No sooner had he stepped out of the fireplace - brushing the soot off his own robes before his mother had a chance to do it for him - than his father appeared in the grate and immediately led Remus and Mrs Lupin through the pub out into Diagon Alley.

* * *

'Right, are we set?' Mr Evans asked, standing by the front door, car keys in his hand, as eager to leave as Lily was.

'Nearly, Dad,' Lily replied, pulling her hair neatly into a ponytail, securing it with her favourite scrunchie.

'Good, we ought to be leaving soon.' Mr Evans tapped his watch to indicate it was getting late. 'We've got at least an hours drive, and we don't know what time the shops shut, or if they shut for lunch. I'm sure you want to have plenty of time to look around. I know I do!'

Lily laughed as she nodded. Her father was right, she did want plenty of time to browse the magical shops, but his obvious eagerness to leave amused her. He usually hated shopping.

It wasn't only her father's new attitude towards shopping that amused Lily; her parents' whole attitude to magic did too. She had been surprised by how readily her parents had believed and accepted the fact that she was a witch. It had taken several meetings with Severus for her to believe it herself, but her parents seemed to have no doubt about the existence of the magical world.

Lily put this down to the fact that she had had Petunia putting doubts in her mind, providing a logical argument to counter anything Lily had heard from Severus. Although Petunia's outburst the day the letter arrived had exposed her real feelings about the magical world, and had revealed that she did indeed believe in the existence of magic, she had now reverted to her denial.

When she wasn't storming out of the room at the mere mention of magic, Petunia was making snide remarks about the whole situation, and clearly thought her family was deluded. Just that morning at breakfast, Petunia had scoffed at the invitation for her to join them on their trip, saying it would be a waste of time as the place didn't even exist.

Lily was really hoping Petunia would change her mind about joining them today. She had been disappointed that Severus had been unable to meet her at Diagon Alley today, but that was nothing compared to the disappointment she felt at not having Petunia by her side during her first visit to the magical world. Petunia had been with her for all her 'firsts' and it would not feel right for Petunia to be absent from such a momentous one. Lily had also hoped that if Petunia was able to be part of this experience with her, even if only for a shopping trip, it may just change her views of magic – and of Lily!

Just as Lily found herself thinking about Petunia, she came down the stairs with Mrs Evans. Petunia headed straight for the front door, ignoring Lily and Mr Evans.

'Are you not going to say goodbye, Petunia?' Mr Evans asked, more harshly than he meant, as Petunia pulled the front door open. 'Or have you decided to come with us?'

'Oh, please come, Petunia,' Lily pleaded. 'I want you to be a part of this.'

Petunia turned in the doorway, glaring at Lily.

'Well, I _don't_ want to be a part of this… this…farce!' she spat, then turning to her mother, added, 'I'm staying at Belinda's tonight, I'll be back in the morning.'

'Just don't be late back, don't forget we're going to get your school things tomorrow.' Mrs Evans knew there was no point getting angry with Petunia, it only made her worse.

'I'll be back by ten,' Petunia replied before storming out of the house and down the drive, muttering about how her father wouldn't be coming to get _her_ school things.

Mr Evans was about to comment on Petunia's attitude, but one look from his wife stopped him. Instead, he turned to Lily, forcing a smile onto his face.

'Come on then, love. Let's go.'

Lily led the way out to the car, her excitement dampened. She could hear her mother and father muttering as they locked the front door.

'I won't put up with that behaviour from her, Rose. I can't see what her problem is.'

'Please, Roger, she just needs time to adjust. Don't let it spoil Lily's day; this is a big thing for her, for us too.'

'I know, dear, but she has become a different child, and I don't like it.'

'Well, let's just concentrate on Lily today; we can deal with Petunia later.'

Lily really didn't want her sister and her father to fall out, especially because of her. Although Petunia was acting strangely towards her, and had upset her, she agreed with her mother, she just needed time to adjust.

Lily was very quiet as they climbed into the car and started their journey, but by the time they reached the motorway the mood of all three Evans' had brightened. Lily got out her Hogwarts letter, examining the list of items she needed to get for about the hundredth time, and excited chatter filled the car.

When they finally turned into Charing Cross road, Lily peered out of her window, looking for the Leaky Cauldron, the pub which the letter said would lead them into Diagon Alley, hoping and praying that it really would be there. As they neared the end of Charing Cross road, just as Lily began to feel panicky, she spotted it sandwiched between a book shop and a record shop, just as the letter had said.

'Dad, there it is, look!'

Mr Evans pulled the car into the nearest parking space - the only parking space left on that stretch of road – which, luckily, was right outside the Leaky Cauldron. Mr Evans hadn't even turned the engine off before Lily jumped out of the car, urging her parents to hurry up.

It was only as they neared the shabby little pub that Mr and Mrs Evans actually noticed it was there; if Lily hadn't led them up to the door they would have walked straight past, oblivious to its existence, as every other person seemed to be doing.

The inside of the pub was just as gloomy and shabby as it had looked from the outside. Mr Evans headed straight to the bar and the old, balding man standing behind it.

'Good morning. My daughter is attending Hogwarts in September and we were told that Tom would assist us in getting into Diagon Alley.'

'Ah, that would be me,' the barman replied cheerily, 'follow me. Don't be helping yourself to my fire-whiskey while I'm gone, Bert.'

After warning the man who was leaning on the bar cupping an empty glass, Tom the barman led the Evans' through the pub and out of a door at the back, into a bright courtyard. Lily watched in amazement as Tom tapped the wall three times with his wand, making the bricks move and slowly form an archway.

Having thanked Tom and watched him scurry back into the pub, the Evans' hurried through the archway into Diagon Alley. Lily could hardly suppress her excitement now and although she wanted to go in all the shops straight away, Mrs Evans managed to convince her to wait until they had exchanged their money. This didn't stop Lily from peering through all the windows they passed, pointing things out to her parents, and if she hadn't felt it was rude, she would also have commented on the strange way everyone was dressed. She felt a bit out of place in her flowery summer dress while nearly everyone around her were wearing long robes. It didn't faze her though; she was too elated for that.

After changing their money into Galleons, Sickles and Knuts (large gold, silver and bronze coins which fascinated Mr Evans) they decided to start at the furthest end of Diagon Alley and work their way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

The first shop they entered was Ollivander's wand shop. It wasn't as impressive as the other shops they had passed, the window display comprising of a lone wand sitting on a faded purple cushion, but Lily felt that this was a shop that didn't need a fancy exterior to draw in the customers. Or a fancy interior Lily decided as she stepped inside, passing a young boy on his way out of the shop, smiling widely.

The shop was small, gloomy and dusty. The walls were completely hidden behind hundreds of neatly piled, narrow boxes, a spindly chair stood on one side of the shop and on the other stood a tall, white haired man – Mr Ollivander.

'Good morning, miss,' he said softly.

Good morning,' Lily replied, feeling a little nervous under Mr Ollivander's unfaltering, silvery eyed gaze. 'I need to get a wand.'

'Well you have come to the right place,' Mr Ollivander smiled. 'Hold out your wand hand.'

Lily looked at her parents, who smiled at her encouragingly, then turned back to Mr Ollivander, holding out the hand she wrote with, unsure as to whether it would also be her wand hand.

Mr Ollivander pulled a measuring tape from his pocket and began taking all sorts of measurements from Lily. When he'd finished he turned to the pile of boxes behind him and carefully pulled one out. He opened the box, took out the wand and handed it to Lily.

'Give it a wave.'

Watching Lily intently as she waved the wand in front of her, his smile turned to a frown and he almost instantly took the wand off her.

'No, no, that one's not for you,' he muttered as he turned his back on Lily and started searching through the boxes behind him.

Lily felt disheartened and the nagging feeling she thought she had left behind when she entered Diagon Alley returned. Although it had been proved that magic existed, that didn't prove that she was a witch. What if it had all been a mistake, if Severus and the people at Hogwarts had been wrong about her? What if the wand hadn't worked because she didn't have any magical abilities? Now that she'd had a glimpse of the magical world she didn't think she could bear to not be a part of it.

'Try this one,' Mr Ollivander said, interrupting Lily's thoughts, holding out another wand for her to try. 'Willow and unicorn hair. Ten and a quarter inches. Swishy.'

Taking the wand, Lily felt the warmth spread through her fingers instantly, and when she waved it, gold sparks erupted from the end of it, filling the gloomy shop with glittering light. The negative thoughts of only a moment ago vanished, and the excitement came back doubled. With the wand in her hand Lily felt complete, like she truly belonged in this world.

'Oh, very good,' Mr Ollivander said with a spark in his eyes. 'I expect you will excel in Charms with that wand.'

Lily watched delightedly as Mr Ollivander placed the wand back in its box and wrapped it in brown paper while her father tried to work out which coins he should hand over.

When Mr Evans had finally handed over the right amount of money they made their way back down Diagon Alley, going from shop to shop acquiring more and more packages as they went. By the time they were back where they started and had entered Madam Malkin's Robes for Every Occasion, Mr and Mrs Evans' arms were overloaded with packages, and they still had much more to buy.

'Hello dear, Hogwarts?' a squat witch, who Lily assumed to be Madam Malkin, asked as they walked through the door of the shop. Before Lily had time to answer, Madam Malkin whisked her off to the back of the shop where the young boy Lily had seen coming out of Ollivander's was having robes fitted by a second witch.

Lily smiled at the boy as she stepped up onto the small stool, ready to be measured for the second time that day. Madam Malkin quickly took Lily's measurements, then slipped a set of Hogwarts robes over her head and started working pinning up the hem.

'Is it your first year at Hogwarts too?' Lily asked the boy, noticing his robes were identical to the ones she was wearing.

The boy smiled back shyly. 'Yes.'

'Well, pleased to meet you. I'm Lily.'

'Remus, Remus Lupin,' the boy replied.

'Do you know much about Hogwarts, Remus?'

'I've never been there, but my parents say it's great.' Remus went on to tell Lily everything his parents had told him about Hogwarts while Madam Malkin and her assistant silently made adjustments to Lily and Remus' robes.

'What sort of magic will we be learning?' Lily asked, despite having made Severus tell her all he knew about the lessons they would be taking – more than once. Maybe Remus would know something Severus didn't know or had forgotten. Although she had heard it before, when Remus began describing the different branches of magic they would be learning, Madam Malkin had to tell her to keep still as she was practically bouncing on the spot with excitement.

'Wow, I don't think I can wait another two weeks,' Lily exclaimed. 'It was quite a shock when I found out I was a witch, I wasn't sure whether to believe it or not at first. But now... I'm just so excited!'

Remus grinned. 'I didn't quite believe it when I got my Hogwarts letter either.' As soon as the words had left his mouth, and he'd seen Lily's puzzled face, Remus regretted saying it. He'd been so caught up in the conversation about Hogwarts he'd forgotten himself.

'Why? I thought your parents went to Hogwarts.'

Remus felt himself redden. 'Um… they did. It's just that… we thought I may not have any magical ability.'

'Oh,' Lily replied, interpreting Remus' stuttering as embarrassment. 'I bet you were really pleased when the letter came then.'

'Yeah, I was.' Remus was glad that at least this was true. He hated lying and he suddenly got the feeling he'd have to tell quite a few once he got to Hogwarts.

Lily didn't seem to think any more on Remus' comment or notice that Remus had become much quieter and less talkative all of a sudden, but Remus was still relieved when Madam Malkin finished her adjustments a few moments later.

'All finished, take them off and I'll get them wrapped up for you, dears.'

After taking off the robes and handing them to Madam Malkin, Lily and Remus stepped off the stools and joined their parents at the counter near the front of the shop.

'Well, it was really nice to meet you, Remus. See you at Hogwarts.' Lily said when her new, neatly folded and wrapped robes were in her hands.

'Yeah, see you at Hogwarts,' Remus replied, smiling despite his dampened mood.

Lily left the shop feeling, if possible, even more ecstatic than when she'd left the wand shop, while Remus left subdued and deep in thought.

* * *

Later that evening as he sat down at the kitchen table with his parents, a mug of hot chocolate cupped in his hands, Remus finally voiced the thoughts that had been plaguing him since his conversation with Lily.

'What if… what if someone finds out about me?' Remus asked quietly, staring into his mug.

'Sweetheart,' Mrs Lupin started, her voice full of concern, 'don't worry yourself with thoughts like that.'

'I nearly slipped up talking to that girl in Madam Malkin's. If anyone finds out about me I'll have to leave Hogwarts.'

'Nearly, Remus, you _nearly_ slipped up! As long as you are careful and responsible there is no reason for anyone to find out, or for you to leave Hogwarts,' Mrs Lupin said in a firm but comforting voice.

Remus looked up at his mother, not finding her words soothing as he usually did. 'But what if something happens, like it did before? I wasn't very responsible then, what if it happens again?'

'Remus, you know as well as I do that you would never put yourself in that situation again. That was three years ago, you were a child, you've grown up a lot since then. Don't let your past experiences ruin your new ones.'

'Your mother's right, son,' Mr Lupin said seriously. 'You should concentrate on having fun and getting your education, not thinking about what could go wrong. The school years are the best, and you should enjoy them.'

He knew his parents were right, but Remus couldn't help but think about the what-ifs, now that the negative thoughts had entered his head he found it hard to shift them. He'd had fun today, for one whole day he had felt like a normal eleven year old boy, but now the reality had sunk in. He wasn't a normal boy, he never would be.


	3. The First Train Ride

**3. The First Train Ride**

Despite having struggled to fall asleep the night before, Lily had awoken early on the 1st September feeling bright, energised and ready for today's adventure. This morning she had felt so excited. She was finally going to Hogwarts and Petunia had actually agreed to come to Kings Cross station to see her off. Lily had thought that this was the turning point in her relationship with her sister; that Petunia was beginning to accept Lily's new life and that things would return to normal, that they would be able to be close again.

Lily now realised how wrong she had been. It was now obvious that things with Petunia would never be the same again. Petunia had been silent and surly throughout the whole journey to London, which Lily had hoped was simply down to the fact that they would shortly be saying goodbye. But then, on platform 9 ¾, as Lily should have been enjoying her last few moments with her family, drinking in the atmosphere before saying her fond farewells, Petunia had been positively vile to her; calling her a freak and saying she should be kept away from 'normal' people.

Lily was so hurt, and so angry. How could her own sister think that of her? And how could she say it to her today, on the most exciting and nerve-racking day of her life, when she would be going away from her beloved family on her own? She had held in her tears as she said goodbye to her parents, not wanting to upset them too, not wanting to repeat what Petunia had said and cause conflict between Petunia and her parents.

Her parents, of course, had noticed the glistening unshed tears in their daughter's eyes but had put it down to the fact they were saying goodbye. Mrs Evans had told Lily not to be upset, that they would see each-other very soon and they would write all the time; that Lily would be having so much fun it would be Christmas before she knew it and they'd be together again. If Lily hadn't been so upset about Petunia she would have cheekily told her mother that her little speech would have been so much more convincing if Mrs Evans hadn't had tears rolling down her own face as she said it. Instead, she just nodded sadly before giving both her parents fierce hugs. She said a curt goodbye to Petunia, to which Petunia said not a word, simply turning away from her with a look of hatred and anger on her face. Lily turned, took a deep steadying breath, and then walked away from her family, not turning back to look at them – not wanting to see the look on Petunias face again.

Now, sat on the Hogwarts Express in an empty compartment, with her head against the window, tears now rolling freely down her cheeks, she started to think about the demise of her relationship with her sister. It had all started when she met Severus, and Petunia's latest outburst had been brought on by Severus's actions. If only he hadn't insisted on snooping in Petunia's room for that letter Lily would not have known what it contained, would not have mentioned it today, and Petunia would not have been so angry with her. And, maybe, Petunia would not have said those horrible things to her. She felt irrationally angry at Severus, despite knowing in her heart that Petunia's attitude was not Severus's fault.

'Are you not joining us, Sirius?'

Lily looked round in surprise at the haughty voice that had disturbed her thoughts. She had been so deep in thought that she had not heard the compartment door slide open. In the doorway stood a sullen faced, dark haired boy and behind him, in the corridor was the owner of the voice.

The boy, who Lily assumed must have been called Sirius, slumped down in the seat on the opposite side of the compartment from Lily. 'I'll be just fine here thanks, Narcissa' he replied shortly staring at the wand he was twirling in his hand rather than looking at the older girl now stood in doorway where Sirius had been.

Narcissa looked down her nose at Sirius in disgust. 'See you at the Slytherin table then, Sirius!' She then swept away with a cruel smirk on her face.

Lily, who had watched the exchange thinking that by the looks of it she wasn't the only one with family problems, quickly turned back to the window without saying anything. Likewise, Sirius made no acknowledgment of Lily, simply making an exasperated noise and swishing his wand angrily, making the door slide shut noisily.

* * *

Having arrived at Kings Cross station later than they had planned, James Potter and his parents hurried passed the Muggles waiting for trains on platforms nine and ten, and through the magical barrier to Platform 9 ¾.

The platform was crowded and noisy, parents calling out last minute instructions and goodbyes to their children. The Hogwarts Express was gleaming in the sunlight, steam billowing from the engine, children waving through the windows. It was due to leave at any minute and James noticed that he was one of very few students who had not yet boarded the train.

'Come on, James, quick!' Mrs Potter said panicking. She wasn't used to being late and hated being so now.

'You know, mum, if you had just let me carry the chocolate cake separately we would have been here minutes earlier and we wouldn't have to rush!' James couldn't help but wind his mother up as he and his father followed her, weaving through the crowds of waving parents and empty trolleys towards the Hogwarts Express.

Mrs Potter glanced round at James. 'Nice try, James! If I hadn't insisted on putting it in your trunk, I would never have known you had hidden your broom in there. And you would have been in trouble on your first day at Hogwarts.' Mrs Potter said this with a hint of amusement in her voice.

James had thought he'd been so clever waiting for his mother to have checked and re-checked his trunk before putting his broom in it. But when his mother had emerged from the kitchen with a big tin containing one of her delicious chocolate cakes, James had realised his plan wasn't going to work and started making excuses for his mother not to put it in his trunk. As always, his attempt to fool his mother had failed.

'Ah, son, really it's your fault, not your mother's. If you'd hidden your broom under your other stuff, you wouldn't have needed to waste time making excuses to keep her out of your trunk and she never would have discovered it. You've so much to learn.'

James laughed as his father winked at him with a grin.

'Don't encourage him, Harold. He's mischievous enough without your help.'' Now standing in front of the train, Mrs Potter turned and hit her husband playfully on the arm.

While James tried to stifle his laughter, Mr Potter quickly removed the grin from his face, replacing it with a mock apologetic look and set about loading James's trunk and owl onto the train.

'I'm going to miss you,' Mrs Potter said, pulling James into an embrace. 'It's going to be so quiet around the house without you, too quiet!'

James squeezed his mother a bit tighter. He would miss his mother, a lot, but at the same time he couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts.

'You will write, won't you?' James could see his mother's eyes glistening with tears as she released him from the embrace.

'Of course I will, every week.' James replied.

'Make sure you do! Now go on, get on that train.'

After kissing his mother on the cheek, having his hair ruffled by his dad and getting the expected warning to be good, James stepped onto the train, pulling the door closed behind him. After waving to his parents, he turned away from the window, picking up his trunk and owl cage and made his way down the corridor in search of a suitable compartment.

Most of the compartments were full now and James was beginning to think he'd have to spend the whole journey sat on his trunk in the corridor. Or, even worse, having to spend the journey in a compartment with a bunch of giggling girls or prefect wannabe's - which the only compartments with any space seemed to be occupied by. However, halfway down the train, just as the whistle sounded for the train's departure, James was relieved to find a compartment with only two occupants. The red haired girl with her back to the door, and the irritable looking raven haired boy would not have been James's ideal travel companions, but they seemed better than the alternatives. And so James slid the door open.

'Alright if I join you?' James asked poking his head in the compartment.

The girl did not reply or even turn to acknowledge James. The boy turned away from his wand twirling, looking James up and down, as though sizing him up, before nodding. 'Sure.'

'Thanks,' James said, dragging his trunk into the compartment and lifting it onto the overhead storage rack, along with his fluff ball of an owl. 'I'm James Potter.'

'Sirius Black,' the boy replied, resuming his wand twirling.

James looked to the red-haired girl, expecting her to introduce herself. Lily, although knowing it was very rude to ignore James, did not introduce herself or turn at all to acknowledge him. She didn't want either boy to see her tear stained face, and besides, she really wasn't in the mood to make small talk.

'She's sociable' James whispered to Sirius as he threw himself into the seat opposite him. 'What's up with her anyway?'

'Dunno,' Sirius shrugged, not looking up.

'Oh. Well, you two seem like a bundle of laughs! You know, I don't think they have a baton twirling club at Hogwarts?' James stated with a smirk, nodding at Sirius's wand in his hand.

'What?!' Sirius replied, looking up at James in bewilderment.

'Baton twirling. You seem pretty focused on practising with your wand. Personally, I'm going to concentrate on joining the quidditch team. But whatever floats your boat, you carry on, I'm sure I can amuse myself for a while.' Sirius stopped playing with his wand, putting it down on the seat, looking up at James with an apologetic grin. James laughed. 'So, seriously, do you like quidditch? I can't wait to join the team. I did try to smuggle my broom to school. I was planning to wow everyone with my amazing flying skills and earn myself a place on the team and the title of being the youngest Quidditch cup winner at Hogwarts! But, alas, my sneaky mother shattered my dreams when she discovered my broom and confiscated it! For some strange reason she'd rather I concentrated on school work. Typical Ravenclaw she is.'

James shook his head in mock despair. Sirius couldn't help laughing at this confident, slightly big headed, chatterbox.

'You really think you're that good?' Sirius asked, amused.

'Definitely! How could you doubt me?' James replied.

'Well, I think your lack of confidence may hold you back.'

'I know, I'm working on that though,' James chuckled. 'Still, I could give Hamish MacFarlan a run for his money!'

Sirius laughed. 'That's not hard. He may be the captain of the Montrose Magpies but I've seen better players in the Chudley Cannons... and that's saying something!'

'Oh dear, Sirius, I see you spend more time with your baton twirling than you do on Quidditch!'

This started a lively debate between the two boys. James was in the middle of enthusiastically re-enacting what he claimed was the most amazing goal of all time (as best he could in a small compartment with no broom or quaffle) when the compartment door slid open again. Another dark haired boy entered the compartment and sat down opposite the red-haired girl. While James did not pause in his re-enactment to greet the boy, continuing his tale with gusto, with Sirius shaking his head continually claiming that he had seen that game and that was _not_ how it had happened, James did vaguely notice that the boy had managed to engage the girl in conversation but that she did not seem too happy to see him.

James finished his tale just as he heard the boy talking about Slytherin. Sirius was about to correct James on his version of events when James turned away from him to face the two students by the window.

'Slytherin? Who wants to be in Slytherin?' James stated in a tone of disgust. Then turning back to Sirius said, 'I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?'

At this, Lily turned to James, thinking it was extremely rude to eavesdrop on someone else's conversation, let alone make such rude remarks, but said nothing. She continued to watch the exchange between the three boys, not liking the way it was going.

Lily had been listening to these two boys for the last half an hour, and whilst she had found their conversation annoying, the jovial tones they had been talking in were preferable to the hostile tone they were now using towards Severus. Yes, she had been cross with Severus, but she was now beginning to realise that Petunia's attitude was not Severus's fault. Severus was her friend and she did not like these boys being so mean to him, certainly when he had given them no reason to.

Lily glared at the two boys as they laughed at another insult they'd directed at Severus. She stood up, wanting to get away from these two cruel, arrogant boys. 'Come on Severus, let's find another compartment.'

As Lily walked out of the compartment, still glaring at James and Sirius in dislike, Severus followed, stepping over James's leg as he tried to trip him over.

'See ya, Snivellus!' Sirius called out as Severus and Lily stalked off down the corridor.

'Good one, Sirius!' James laughed. 'He was a delightful character, wasn't he?'

'Totally! If I hadn't already decided I was going to break the family tradition and not be placed in Slytherin, the thought of being in a house with Snivellus and the unsociable snooty one would definitely have made up my mind!'

'So, where would you like to go then? I think you should be in Gryffindor with me!' James felt like he and Sirius could be great friends, and really hoped they would both become Gryffindors.

'I guess Gryffindor would be good.' Sirius replied, then continued in a teasing tone, 'No guarantees though... you might end up in Ravenclaw!'

'No way! Sure, that would make my mum's day for me to be in her house, but it's not gonna happen, I'm a Gryffindor!' James stated adamantly. 'So, are any of your family at Hogwarts now?'

'Only my cousin Narcissa, who, I'm sure, has been given her orders to keep an eye on me.' Sirius answered, his eyes darkening slightly despite his smile. 'She even tried to make me sit with her today, but I don't like being told what to do, especially if that means spending more time than I have to with her and her slimy boyfriend. That'll probably be the first thing she writes home to mother about!'

James felt sorry for Sirius. He couldn't imagine having someone spy on him, and reporting his every move to his parents. He remained silent for a few moments, until an idea began to form in his head.

'Are you up for a bit of fun then? Give your cousin something to actually write home about?' James asked, his eyes lighting up with mischief.

'Of course! What do you have in mind?' Sirius leant forward in his seat, intrigued by what James had planned.

'Well, I have a box of Persistent Pong Dung Bombs I've been dying to try!'

* * *

Remus sat in the compartment at the end of the train watching the scenery change as the Hogwarts Express gathered speed and left the built up estates of London behind. It was now trundling speedily through the grassy meadows of the countryside as Remus sighed happily, grateful that he had managed to keep this compartment to himself.

For the last two weeks Remus had spent much of his time thinking about Hogwarts and how the only way his secret was assured of staying secret was by secluding himself from the other students. He knew this was going to be hard, exceptionally hard, but he also knew that it was the only way to make sure that his condition would not become common knowledge. As much as he wanted to make friends and enjoy his time at Hogwarts, he kept telling himself that it was more important to actually complete his education and not get kicked out. Dumbledore had been kind enough to offer him a place and he, Remus, was not about to ruin the chance he had been given.

And so, unlike all the other first year students on the train, Remus was glad that he was alone, that no-one had wanted to join him on his first journey to Hogwarts. So far, so good; his plan was working, and as everyone would now be settled in compartments for the journey it appeared that it would remain that way until they reached Hogwarts. He sighed happily again at the thought as he settled back in his seat, picking up the muggle book he'd brought to keep him occupied on the journey.

Remus was just getting to an interesting part of the book he had unsuccessfully tried to read over the summer when the door of his compartment slid open. He looked up expecting to see the food trolley witch, his stomach rumbling at the thought, but instead he looked into the face of Lily – the girl, he reminded himself, that he'd let his guard down with in Madam Malkins.

'Hello Remus,' Lily greeted him cheerily. Having made up with Severus she had put the argument with Petunia to the back of her mind, resolving not to talk or think about her and to just enjoy her first ride on the Hogwarts Express. 'Do you mind if we join you?'

Remus hesitated, longer than he felt was polite, pondering whether there was any excuse he could use to keep his solitude without appearing rude. He quickly realised there wasn't, and looking up at Lily's smiling face, Remus tried to convince himself that having company for one train ride was not going to hurt; he would just have to be extra careful about what he said.

'Sure,' he replied, hoping the reluctance and anxiety didn't show on his face.

'Thanks! Remus, this is my friend Severus, Severus this is Remus – we met in Madam Malkins.' Severus nodded his acknowledgement of Remus as Lily made the introductions. Lily and Severus settled into their seats Lily continued, 'so how was the rest of your summer, Remus?'

'Well, I spent most of it thinking about Hogwarts!' Remus replied truthfully, not expanding on exactly what he'd been thinking about.

'Me too!' Lily giggled. Then, with an embarrassed grin, added, 'I spent the last two weeks reading my new text books so that I'm not completely clueless when it comes to classes and actually doing spells! I'm a bit nervous about that.'

'You've no need to be nervous, Lily; you've got really strong magical abilities. I've told you, you'll be great,' Severus reassured her. 'We're going to have an amazing time.'

As the conversation continued Remus got the impression that Severus wasn't very keen on befriending him. Whilst he was perfectly friendly and chatty with Lily he all but ignored Remus and did not seem happy when Lily tried to bring Remus into the conversation. This more than suited Remus, and so when the food trolley had been and Lily was engrossed in the numerous magical sweets she had purchased, Remus turned back to his book and left Lily to the sole attention of Severus.

* * *

James and Sirius burst into their compartment, breathless from running and laughter, and threw themselves into their seats.

'I've always thought Narcissa looked like she had a bad smell under her nose,' Sirius said through his laughter. 'Now she really does!'

Both boys started laughing even harder. Their plan had been executed perfectly, much better than they had thought. The door of the compartment had been left slightly ajar, enabling Sirius and James to slip the dung bombs into the compartment un-noticed and get far enough away before they actually went off.

The Persistent Pong Dung Bombs would now be letting off a horrendous stench which would linger on the clothes, hair and skin of all the occupants of that compartment for at least twenty four hours. The thought of it filled Sirius with joy, and left him eager to plot his next attempt at revenge. And he was pretty sure James would be more than willing to be his accomplice.

'I wonder when the witch with the food trolley will be round,' Sirius said as the laughter died down.

'I think we missed her,' James said. 'We ran passed her a minute ago. I'd have thought you would have noticed that, seeing as you nearly ran into her!'

'Oh yeah, I forgot about that,' Sirius grinned. 'Damn, I'm starving.'

Giggling at how Sirius had managed to forget that he'd nearly sent the trolley witch flying only moments ago, James stood up and reached into his trunk. Pulling out a tin and a pack of cards, he turned back to Sirius.

'Well, it's a good job my mum made me one of her delicious chocolate cakes then, isn't it?' James said, opening the tin and offering it to Sirius as he sat down again.

Taking a slice of cake, Sirius said, 'You know, I think this year is going to be even better than I thought.'

James, who had been thinking the same thing, nodded silently as he bit into his piece of cake.

James and Sirius spent the rest of the journey playing Exploding Snap, and only remembered to change into their school robes as the Hogwarts Express pulled slowly into Hogsmeade station. By the time they had packed away their things and changed, the train had stopped and most of the students had got off and were making their way out of the station.

After pulling his robes over his head, James ran his fingers through his hair, at which Sirius started laughing.

'I don't know why you're bothering, your hair looked worse before you changed!'

'Well we can't all have shiny, silken locks like you,' James said good-humouredly, grabbing his wand from the seat.

Sirius stroked his hair jokingly and then flicked it out of his face as he turned to leave the compartment. Giggling once more, James hurried after him, jumping off the train onto the lamp lit station.

Both boys looked around them, unsure of where they should go, until they noticed an extremely large, hairy man at the other end of the platform, standing twice as tall as the students already gathered around him. Holding a bright lantern, he was summoning the last of the first years in a loud, gruff voice.

Sirius and James hurried down the platform towards him.

They were the last of the first years to reach him, and close up he was larger and hairier than they had first thought. As well as being over twice the height of the first years, he was also nearly as wide as they were tall. His face was almost completely hidden by a tangled mass of black hair and a wild black beard. From behind all the hair, he smiled down at the students, his black eyes glinting in the lantern light.

'Alrigh', I'm Rubeus Hagrid. Now yeh all 'ere, I'll be takin' yeh across the lake to Hogwarts, follow me!'

He led them down a narrow sloping path through a thick cluster of trees, the only light coming from the lantern that Hagrid carried. As they neared the end of the path, the trees began to thin and the path widened until it opened out into a clearing next to a lake, a row of wooden boats lined up on the edge of the water. The castle across the lake stood tall and proud, the turrets and towers protruding high into the sky, the many windows flickering with light, reflected perfectly in the still, glass like, water of the lake. It was an amazing sight, and many of the new students stood staring at it in awe.

When Hagrid ushered them all into the boats, Sirius and James jumped into the nearest one and grinned at each other as they started floating magically across the lake.


	4. The Sorting

**4. Sorting and Settling**

After an uneventful boat ride they arrived at Hogwarts. Hagrid led them up to the castle where a tall, thin witch in bottle green robes was waiting for them by the large, open, oak front door. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, her square glasses resting on the end of her nose and her hands clasped together in front of her.

'Thank you, Hagrid' the witch said, nodding her head slightly at Hagrid.

'No problem,' Hagrid replied cheerily, smiling down at the students before trudging off round the side of the castle whistling.

'Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Professor McGonagall,' the stern looking witch said, turning back to the students. 'Follow me.'

As she led them across the vast, torch lit Entrance Hall several students gasped at the sight of a group of ghosts floating through the double doors on the right of the hall. Professor McGonagall either did not hear the sounds of amazement from the students, or was simply ignoring it as she carried on through the Entrance Hall and led them into a small chamber in silence.

Once all the first years were inside the chamber Professor McGonagall addressed them.

'In a few moments I will take you through to the Great Hall to join the rest of the students for the start-of-term feast. Before the feast begins you will each be sorted into your houses, once sorted you will take a seat at your house table. The Sorting ceremony is very important. While you are here at Hogwarts you will be spending vast amounts of time with the other members of your house; you will have lessons with them, share a dormitory with them and spend free time with them in your house common room.

'At the end of the year the house with the most house points is awarded the House Cup. Throughout the year your achievements will earn you points for your house and any rule breaking will lose them. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. I hope you will all be a credit to your chosen house. Take a moment to tidy yourselves up, I shall come back to get you when we are ready for you.'

Professor McGonagall swept out of the chamber and the students immediately began talking in low, murmuring voices. She wasn't gone long though, silencing the students a few minutes later when she walked back into the chamber.

'We're ready for you now, follow me please.'

The first years obediently followed her back across the entrance hall and through the large double doors they'd seen the ghosts glide through moments ago in silence. The rest of the students were already seated at the four long tables that ran the length of the Great Hall, all of them watching the first years make their way to the front of the hall behind Professor McGonagall.

As they walked the length of the hall, most of the new students stared at the high ceiling, which depicted the dark, star filled sky, but Sirius and James were looking round for Sirius's cousin, wondering whether their dung bombs had worked. Halfway down the hall Sirius nudged James and nodded at the table nearest the wall on his left where a blonde haired witch was following Sirius with her eyes, her eyebrows raised.

'Either your dung bombs were faulty, or those Slytherins have no sense of smell!' Sirius whispered, turning away from the glare of his cousin.

James nodded his agreement. None of the students surrounding Narcissa were wearing looks of disgust, or looked at all like they were breathing in any foul aroma. James was slightly disappointed his dung bombs hadn't worked, but nothing could dampen his spirits now he was finally at Hogwarts and was about to be sorted.

Professor McGonagall stopped just in front of the staff table at the front of the hall, where a frayed, tatty old hat sat on a three legged stool. Taking her place next to the stool, Professor McGonagall instructed the first years to make a line in front of her.

As the first years stared at the hat, most of them wondering what it was doing there, it started twitching. Someone to the left of Sirius gasped as a moment later the hat came to life and began to sing.

_Now please don't judge me on my looks  
For there is so much more to me  
It is my job to read you mind  
And decide in which house you should be._

_The founders they put brains in me_  
_So when they were dead and gone_  
_I could choose the right students_  
_To help their favoured traits live on._

_The ambitious and the cunning_  
_With an ancestry that's pure_  
_Would do well in Slytherin_  
_That much I know for sure._

_But the clever and the wise_  
_Who are eager to learn more_  
_Are sure to make their friends_  
_In the house of Ravenclaw._

_For the fair and the just_  
_The loyal and the patient_  
_The house of Hufflepuff_  
_Is where you'll be sent._

_For the chivalrous and brave_  
_The bold and daring too_  
_The house of Gryffindor_  
_Is the only place for you._

_So come place me on your head_  
_You have nothing to fear_  
_Just let me take a look inside_  
_And your house I will see clear_

When the Sorting Hat had sung the last words of its song, and had once more become perfectly silent and still, the hall filled with the cheering and applause of the students.

'Adams, Michael.'

The hall fell silent again as soon as Professor McGonagall called out the first name from the roll of parchment in her hand.

As Sirius watched a tiny blonde boy step out of the line, eyeing the Hat suspiciously, he started to feel a little nervous. What if he _was_ sorted into Slytherin? As desperate as he was to break the long standing Black family tradition, he didn't think he'd be fortunate enough to actually do it. Being placed in Slytherin would certainly please his parents, but he knew that it would make his time at Hogwarts much less enjoyable than he had thought earlier, and pleasing his parents was not a priority for him.

Luckily he didn't have too long to dwell on his thoughts and his nerves didn't have time to really kick in. The Hat sorted Chloe Ashcombe into Gryffindor and as Sirius watched the blonde haired girl walk confidently over to the table on the far left, smoothing her hair as she did so, he heard Professor McGonagall call his name.

'Black, Sirius.'

Sirius strode up to the stool with a confidence he didn't feel, picked up the hat and pulled it down firmly onto his head as he sat down. The last thing he saw before the hat covered his eyes was James smiling reassuringly at him.

'Ah, yes, another Black.'

Sirius scowled to himself under the hat, none too pleased at being referred to as 'another Black'. He was only too aware of which house that name was associated with. The hat, however, seemed to take no notice of the thoughts running through Sirius's mind and continued muttering.

'But, my, my, where to put you? It's all here, you have a sharp mind. Edgy though. Unpredictable. Yes, wouldn't get along _there_'

Sirius was utterly perplexed as to what the Hat was talking about now, and shifted uncomfortably on the stool. It felt like this was taking much longer than any of the few students who had already been Sorted.

'Impatient, yes, yes, I see. But loyal, _brave_ even. Yes. Better be… _Gryffindor_!'

Sirius could hardly believe it; he hadn't been placed in Slytherin. The Hat had obviously paid more attention to his thoughts than he had realised. Ecstatic, he whipped the hat from his head and thrust it at Professor McGonagall as he jumped up from the stool. After shooting a happy grin at James he hurried over to join the other Gryffindors, trying hard to keep the bounce out of his step.

James, feeling pleased for his new friend, watched Sirius sit down at the Gryffindor table and greet the ruffle necked ghost he was sitting next to. He stared at the ghost for a while, trying to remember what his father had said his name was… Needy Headed Nick? No, that wasn't it... Never Heartless Nick? No, that wasn't right either. James gave up trying to remember and turned back to the sorting hat just as 'Esterly, Stuart' became a Hufflepuff.

The small, mousey haired boy rushed towards the Hufflepuff table and 'Evans, Lily' was called. James watched as the unsociable red-haired girl from the train stepped gingerly out of the line and walked nervously up to the stool. As she sat down, carefully placing the hat on her head, James found himself hoping she would be Sorted into Gryffindor – not because he wanted to be in the same house as her particularly, but because he was sure this would really irritate the hook nosed Snivellus!

The hat had barely fallen down over Lily's eyes when it declared her a Gryffindor. James smirked as he noticed the dismayed look on Severus's face. Excellent, James thought to himself. Lily gave Severus a sad smile as she headed to the Gryffindor table.

James hoped that all the students would be sorted as quickly as Lily had been; even though the sorting had not long started he was beginning to get impatient. He started to wonder whether he would remain friends with Sirius if he was sorted into Ravenclaw. Perhaps he would become a bookworm as his mother hoped he would (at least he thought that's what his mother hoped), and if that happened Sirius wouldn't want to be friends with him, he was sure. And would he want to be friends with Sirius if he became a bookworm? Probably not.

Shaking his head slightly, trying to forget all thoughts of becoming a Ravenclaw (or a bookworm), he turned his attention back to the Sorting Hat. 'Jacobs, Isabel', a slightly plump girl with shoulder length dark hair had just been called and was sitting under the hat. She too became a Gryffindor. James looked over at the Gryffindor table and saw Isabel sit down next to a blonde girl he had not seen be Sorted.

'Knightly, Jake' and 'Kollson, Jenna' became Ravenclaws, 'Lippton, May' became a Hufflepuff and then 'Lupin, Remus' was called. James thought Remus looked extremely nervous as he walked towards the stool; his face looked pale and drawn under his mop of light brown hair and he was clutching the sleeves of his cloak very tightly. The Hat stayed on Remus's head for far longer than it had for any other student, and Remus was shifting in his seat. Finally the Hat announced that Remus was to become a Gryffindor and Remus hurried over to the Gryffindor table looking at his feet, not making eye contact with anyone. James noticed Sirius slide along the bench, leaving a space next to him as Remus sat down next to him on the other side. He felt sure Sirius was saving that seat for him.

The line of first years continued to dwindle, and the hall was filled with a Mexican wave of cheers as each new student was sorted. James was beginning to get fidgety, looking from the Sorting Hat to the Gryffindor table, to the stars sparkling on the high ceiling, and then back to the Sorting Hat. This was taking forever! After what felt like hours but in reality was only minutes, Professor McGonagall reached the P's.

'Pettigrew, Peter' became a Gryffindor, 'Pickering, Emily' became a Hufflepuff, and then…

'Potter, James.'

'_Finally!_' James thought as he stepped out of the line of students and hurried up to the stool. He grabbed the Hat and rammed it onto his head. It didn't stay on his head for very long.

'Ah, yes,' said the Hat, 'I know just where to put you... _Gryffindor_.'

James wasted no time in joining Sirius at the Gryffindor table. He thrust the Hat at Professor McGonagall, in much the same way Sirius had, and rushed over to the cheering Gryffindor table, clapping Sirius on the back as he reached him.

'I knew we'd both make Gryffindor,' James said, plonking himself down in the seat next to Sirius, choosing to forget about his thoughts of becoming a Ravenclaw.

'I wasn't sure you'd make it; the hat seemed a bit unsure of where to put you,' Sirius replied, a cheeky grin on his face.

'Ha ha, you're so funny.'

'I like to think so.'

The rest of the Sorting passed by much quicker now that James had been sorted; at least it felt that way to James. When the last student had been sorted, Professor McGonagall carried the stool and Hat away, and Dumbledore stood up, immediately getting the attention of the excitable students. All heads were turned in his direction and the hall had fallen into complete silence.

'Welcome!' Dumbledore said, throwing his arms open wide. 'Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I'm sure you're all famished and in no mood to listen to an old man's ramblings, so… let the feast begin!'

The golden platters and bowls in the middle of the tables instantly filled with a wide assortment of food, the empty jugs filled with pumpkin juice and the hall buzzed with the sound of friendly chatter as the students started piling their plates with an assortment of food.

Reaching out for a chicken drumstick, Peter leant forward, looking past Remus at James. 'Hi! I'm Peter… Oops!' In his enthusiasm to introduce himself to James (having already done so to Sirius and Remus) he hadn't noticed Remus's pumpkin juice and had knocked it over. The juice flowed across the table towards him and started dripping onto his lap. Peter pushed himself away from the table slightly harder than he should have done; with his arms flailing, unsuccessfully trying to balance himself, he fell backwards off the bench onto the floor with a thud.

With many students staring at him (some looking concerned, some trying hard to conceal their amusement, and some openly laughing at Peter's misfortune), Peter's face turned a bright shade of red as he picked himself up off the floor and straightened his robes, a bashful smile on his face.

'Nice introduction, Peter,' James said, holding back a smirk, while Sirius sniggered into his pumpkin juice. Peter's face turned slightly redder.

'Are you OK, Peter,' Lily asked kindly, throwing a reproachful look at James and Sirius as Peter sat back down, dodging the wet patch on the bench. Peter nodded in reply.

Next to Lily, Chloe got out her wand and pointed it at the spilt pumpkin juice. She muttered an incantation and the puddle of juice disappeared, leaving the table and bench dry and clean. She put her wand back into the pocket of her robes and started eating again.

'When did you learn to do that?' Lily asked, amazed that someone who had only just started Hogwarts was able to perform magic already. 'I thought underage wizards and witches weren't allowed to perform magic outside of Hogwarts.'

'Oh, my auntie has been teaching me a few spells. I've never actually performed them before but she taught me the incantations and wand movements.' Chloe replied. 'I'm just glad it actually worked; I'd have felt a bit foolish if nothing had happened!'

Lily smiled. 'Do you live with your auntie?' she asked.

'No. No, I live with my dad, but he's not magical.'

'So you get your magic from your mum's side?' Lily asked, popping a forkful of carrots into her mouth.

'Well, it's from both sides really. My mum is a pureblood witch, my dad's a Muggle but his sister is a Muggle-born witch, so it runs in both sides.'

'Oh. Does your mum not live with you then?' Lily asked, feeling like she was interrogating Chloe but not being able to stop herself from asking.

'No, she died when I was very little.' Chloe replied before quickly changing the subject and addressing Abigail to prevent Lily questioning her further. 'What about you, are you from a magical family?'

'Oh, no! First I knew of magic was when I got my letter, which we threw in the bin thinking it was a prank. Next thing I know Professor McGonagall is in my house making the plates and cutlery dance around the dining room table!' Abigail chattered enthusiastically. 'I'm definitely the only witch in my family!'

'Me too!' Lily said, glad that she was not the only Gryffindor to be Muggle-born. Then thinking about how easily Chloe had just performed magic, added in a low tone, 'Are you as worried as me that you won't be able to perform the spells as well as the others?'

Abigail laughed. 'No! Magic can't be that hard, you just wave your wand and say a few words. You saw how easily Chloe just did magic on her first try! Nah, we'll be fine Lily, stop worrying.'

'I'm not so sure,' Lily replied, wishing she could be as optimistic as Abigail.

'Abigail's right,' James interjected with a mouthful of roast potato. 'Magic is easy – well, for some of us anyway.'

Lily huffed in annoyance, thinking her first impression of this boy was right, what an arrogant show off. Abigail, however, beamed at James as he turned back to his mountain of food. 'See!' she aimed at Lily.

Remus, who had been happy simply listening to the conversation going on around him, raised his eyebrows at Abigail's statement. She was going to have quite a shock when she started lessons, he thought. If only magic was that simple. He decided not to say anything though, he had a feeling Abigail wouldn't believe him anyway if he told her just how hard performing magic was – especially after James's statement of confirmation.

Conversation continued among the Gryffindor first years with talk of Hogwarts and the classes they would be attending and which ones they were most looking forward to. Lily rolled her eyes when James started talking about flying lessons, about how he didn't really need them but was looking forward to showing off his skills. At this point Lily looked over at the Slytherin table, locating Severus, wishing they hadn't been separated. Severus was deep in conversation with his fellow first years, but looked up and smiled at Lily as he felt her eyes on him.

Before they knew it the feast was over. The clattering of knives and forks came to a halt, and the loud, happy voices of the students turned into a low murmur. The food disappeared from the table leaving the plates as sparkling clean as they had been when they'd first sat down.

Once again, Dumbledore stood to his feet at the staff table, making the low murmur become utter silence.

'Now that we are all fed and watered I have a few notices for you. Firstly, Mr Filch would like me to remind you that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes, and I would like to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to _all_ students.

'Quidditch trials will be held in two weeks time, a notice will be put up on your house notice board. To all who wish to try out for their house teams, good luck.

'That is all for tonight,' Dumbledore said, smiling broadly, 'now off to bed!'

As soon as Dumbledore had finished talking, a tall, dark haired boy and a slightly shorter, blonde girl, both wearing silver prefect badges on their robes, appeared behind Sirius and James.

'Hey Issie,' the dark haired boy said smiling widely at Isabel. 'Well done for making Gryffindor. Mum and Dad will be so pleased.'

Isabel smiled back at the boy. 'Thanks Ryan.'

'Well, I'm Ryan and this is Sara,' Ryan said indicating the blonde girl next to him who was smiling kindly at them. 'We're going to take you up to your dormitories. We will take you up by the most direct route, then hopefully you'll all be able to remember your way back down in the morning!'

'Right, follow us,' Sara said turning towards the double doors.

The first year Gryffindors followed Ryan and Sara across the hall. When they reached the door and had stopped to let a group of Hufflepuff students go out the doors, James caught the end of one boy's conversation.

'It's not my fault, someone let off a dung bomb on the train and I can't get rid of this stench!'

'I hope it's gone in the morning, cause if it isn't there is no way I'm sitting next to you in lessons!'

James grinned to himself, happy in the knowledge that his dung bombs had in fact worked, nudged Sirius and whispered, 'It was your memory that didn't work, not my dung bombs!'

'Oh well, at least we know they work.' Sirius was clearly not too bothered that he had got the wrong compartment, or that he had made an innocent Hufflepuff the victim of their prank. In fact, as the Hufflepuff boy passed him he said loudly 'what is that smell? It's disgusting!' The boy glanced at Sirius and hurried through the doors and out of sight looking rather angry and upset. Laughing at the boy, Sirius turned back to James. 'I think we're gonna have a lot of fun with those!'


	5. Early Morning Meeting

**5. Early Morning Meeting**

While James, Sirius and Peter stayed up late talking and laughing, Remus climbed straight into bed claiming he'd hardly slept the night before and that the day's excitement had worn him out. He didn't fall to sleep for a long while though, instead he lay in his bed listening to the others and wondering what would be said at his meeting with Dumbledore the following morning. He still fell asleep long before the other boys though, and when he awoke early the following morning he was not surprised to find them still fast asleep.

Being careful not to wake the others, not wanting to have to make up an excuse as to where he was going this morning, Remus quietly climbed out of bed and got dressed. He was glad he'd had the sense to unpack and lay out his school robes the night before – it would have been a lot harder to keep quiet if he'd had to rummage through his trunk.

He slipped on his shoes, crept out of the dormitory, down the staircase and into the common room. Unsurprisingly considering the early hour, the common room was deserted. The golden glow of the tree tops outside caught Remus's eye as he glanced round the room. Navigating his way around the squashy armchairs and the tables, he made his way over to the window to get a better look at the view.

The sun was just beginning to rise, leaving most of the grounds in shadow. Smoke was billowing from a cabin on the edge of the forest and in the middle of the grounds a lone tree stood swaying slightly in the breeze. Remus stayed at the window for a moment, taking in the view – a view he thought he would never see.

A few moments later, as he watched a bird fly across the grounds and come to rest on the roof of the cabin, Remus sprang round in surprise hearing the portrait hole swing open and footsteps entering the room.

Just inside the entrance stood Professor McGonagall looking as stern as she had the night before.

'Professor Dumbledore requested that I came to meet you to make sure you found his office with no difficulties. I take it you are ready?'

It took Remus a moment to find his voice, he hadn't expected anyone to be meeting him and he hadn't thought anyone but Dumbledore would know about his condition. 'Yes, Professor.'

Seeing the nervous look on Remus's face, Professor McGonagall's face softened slightly. 'You have nothing to worry about Mr Lupin. Follow me.'

They remained silent as they walked to Professor Dumbledores office. Every now and then Remus would glance at Professor McGonagall but never caught her eye; she kept her gaze facing in front of her, not once looking down at Remus. He wondered whether she did, in fact, know about his condition, or whether Dumbledore had just asked her to collect him with no explanation. But, he thought, why else would she have told him he had nothing to worry about? No, he decided, she definitely knew all about him, but this left him wondering why she would not look at him. Was she scared of him? Repulsed by him? Did she disagree with Dumbledore's decision to let him into Hogwarts? He began to feel more and more nervous.

By the time they reached the stone gargoyle - which stepped aside revealing a revolving staircase when McGonagall said 'Chocoballs' – Remus's hands felt clammy and he could feel himself getting hot. He wasn't sure why he felt like this, after all, Dumbledore wasn't about to send him home again.

Remus stepped onto the staircase behind Professor McGonagall who, when they reached the top, knocked on the large oak door and opened it as they heard a muffled 'come in, come in' from inside.

In the middle of the circular room was an enormous claw-footed desk, behind which sat Professor Dumbledore and a kindly looking witch with greying hair whom Remus did not recognise – she had not been at the staff table the night before.

'Good morning Mr Lupin, Professor McGonagall,' Professor Dumbledore greeted them with a nod, and then with a flick of his wand, conjured two more chairs. 'Please, take a seat.'

Professor McGonagall joined Dumbledore behind the desk and Remus took the seat in front of it, feeling a little like he was on trial. As if he could read his mind, Dumbledore spoke again.

'Relax, Mr Lupin,' he said kindly, his eyes twinkling. 'Let me introduce Madam Pomfrey.'

The greying haired witch next to Dumbledore smiled gently at Dumbledore's introduction. Remus managed a weak smile in return, wondering just how many staff members knew of his condition.

'I have asked Madam Pomfrey to our meeting this morning as she will be taking care of you after each full moon. She is a highly accomplished Healer and is more than qualified to tend to you. I thought it best for you to meet before your first full moon at Hogwarts.

'As your head of house, Professor McGonagall has also been informed of your condition. I consider it best that no other staff members be enlightened at this time. There is no need for them to know.'

Remus smiled gratefully. He'd been a bit concerned that he would be discriminated against in classes; he knew how most people felt about werewolves, there were not many who would agree with Dumbledore's decision to allow one to attend Hogwarts.

'It might be sensible to keep it between the four of us here.' Dumbledore continued.

Remus knew what Dumbledore was suggesting and full heartedly agreed. He nodded his agreement.

'Now, I wish to explain our plans for your transformations. Obviously, I have taken every precaution to ensure your safety, and that of the castles inhabitants. To provide such safety, on the night of the full moon you will not be able to stay in the castle.

'Fortunately I have managed to acquire a building in Hogsmeade which will provide adequate safety and seclusion for your transformations. It has been vacant for some time and from the outside appears to be dilapidated and hazardous, it is my belief that no-one should wish to approach the building, especially at night. Of course, I have taken precautions in case my beliefs are wrong.

'The building has been put under a number of spells and enchantments to ensure no-one can enter the building from Hogsmeade, and you cannot exit once transformed.'

Remus shifted slightly in his seat. 'Professor Dumbledore… um, how will I get to Hogsmeade without being noticed?' he asked quietly, not feeling right questioning his headmaster.

Dumbledore leaned back in his seat, placing his fingertips together and smiling at Remus. 'That has been taken into consideration, Mr Lupin. You will be travelling to Hogsmeade via a secret passageway. This passageway leads straight into the building, no-one will see you enter or leave.'

Again Remus felt the need to question Professor Dumbledore. 'What… what if…'

'What if someone should come across the passageway?' Dumbledore said, finishing Remus's question. 'That has also been taken into consideration, Mr Lupin. The entrance to the passageway has been cleverly concealed. During the summer a very valuable tree was planted in the grounds of the school; a Whomping Willow. Should anyone discover the passageway they will be unable to reach it, the Whomping Willow will guarantee that.'

Remus felt ashamed for doubting Dumbledore. He should have known that he would not leave anything to chance; that he would have everything planned meticulously. But he still wondered how a tree would guarantee that no-one would reach the passageway. He decided he shouldn't doubt Dumbledore's plan and so said nothing.

'Do not feel shame for questioning me, Remus. I am rather glad that you did!' Dumbledore smiled at Remus's quizzical expression. 'I believe you to be a sensible and cautious young man, Mr Lupin, your questions prove that. I have every faith that you will not let me down.'

After a short pause, Dumbledore continued. 'On the night of the full moon you are to meet Professor McGonagall in her office before sunset. She will make sure you arrive at the abandoned house before the moon rises. I am afraid that on the night of the full moon you will be unable to dine in the Great Hall with your friends; it is more important to have you in the house in time for your transformation.'

'I will provide food for you once we are in the house, Mr Lupin.' Professor McGonagall stated, speaking for the first time since Remus had entered Dumbledore's office.

Remus didn't feel the need to tell them that eating would be the last thing on his mind on that particular night of the month, and simply nodded his gratitude instead.

'The following morning, Madam Pomfrey will collect you from the house, bringing you up to the hospital wing where she will assist you in your recovery. Do you have any questions or concerns?'

'Just one, Professor,' Remus said quietly. 'What should I say to the other boys in my dormitory? They will notice if I am absent once a month.'

'Ah, yes. I will leave that for you to decide, Mr Lupin. I would not like to give you an alibi you are not comfortable with. I am sure you are more than capable of coming up with a believable excuse.'

Remus wasn't sure he agreed with Dumbledore; he had never been good at lying, and he only had a few days to think up a convincing one.

'Well, I do believe that is all we need to discuss. I fear we have taken longer than I predicted, you may just make it in time for some breakfast.' Dumbledore smiled kindly at Remus. 'Remember to enjoy your time here, Mr Lupin!'

'I will, Professor, thank you.' Remus replied, getting up from his chair and taking the timetable Professor McGonagall had conjured.

He left the office quickly, but rather than heading down to breakfast he took a look at his timetable and made his way straight to the first lesson, not feeling remotely hungry. He didn't feel he could face the other Gryffindor boys just yet and wanted some time alone to start thinking up a believable excuse for his upcoming absences.

* * *

'I still can't believe the pictures actually move,' Lily said, giggling at a portrait of a young wizard who had just blown her and her friends a kiss as they made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. 'This place is amazing!'

'Yes, it is amazing, but can we stop dawdling to stare at the pictures, I'm starving,' Abigail said rubbing her stomach as if to prove it.

'We're not dawdling, just taking in the sights as we walk,' Lily giggled. 'And we would have been in the Great Hall by now if you hadn't led us in the wrong direction to start with!'

Abigail muttered something about the extra walking making her feel faint, at which the others rolled their eyes at her dramatics. But they carried on walking, at a slightly quicker pace now, and were soon in the Great Hall.

James, Sirius and Peter were already at the Gryffindor table when the girls sat down.

'Good morning girls,' Sirius grinned, scooping another spoonful of beans onto his plate. 'You took your time, you're lucky there's any food left, James was obviously hungry.'

Chloe looked down at Sirius's plate which was piled high with sausages, bacon, mushrooms and beans. Raising her eyebrows she said, 'As were you by the looks of it!'

'Yep, I'm a boy with a healthy appetite, nothing wrong with that.' Sirius replied, and as Peter reached out for his goblet, added, 'Careful, Peter, we don't want any more little accidents!'

Peter pushed his goblet a little bit further away from himself and went back to his plate of food as James and Sirius sniggered quietly.

'Where's Remus?' Lily asked as she buttered her toast.

James shrugged. 'Dunno, we haven't seen him all morning. His bed was empty when we got up.'

'I'm not surprised! He went to bed so early last night,' Sirius scoffed, his mouth full of food. 'Seems like a bundle of fun, he does!'

'I think he seems really nice,' Lily stated.

'Maybe he is, but nice doesn't equal fun!' Sirius retorted. 'Isn't that right, James?'

'Sure is.'

'Well, I disagree with-'

Lily was cut off as the hall filled with owls swooping overhead, letters and packages in their beaks.

'Ah, the post,' James said looking upwards, obviously expecting something.

A small parchment envelope landed in front of James, right on top of his plate of food.

'Aw, is mummy missing you already, James,' Sirius teased.

James replied by nudging Sirius in the side. A second later another envelope landed on the table, this time in front of Sirius.

'Aw, is _your_ mummy missing you, Sirius?' Chloe asked in a mocking voice.

'Doubt it,' Sirius replied bluntly without looking up.

He ripped the letter open and scanned the letter that fell out.

'What did I tell you, James? Narcissa has already written home to my parents.' Sirius said screwing the letter up and shoving it into the pocket of his robes. 'Apparently I have brought shame to the family and I should be disgusted with myself for breaking such a long standing tradition! Well, I personally feel rather proud of myself!'

At his last comment, he shot a grin across the hall to Narcissa who had been watching Sirius eagerly as he read his letter. She leered back at him before turning to the blonde haired boy next to her.

'Let her try and get me into trouble, doesn't bother me!' Sirius stated.

James slapped Sirius on the back saying, 'That's the attitude!' then turned back to his breakfast, mopping up the sauce from his beans with a slice of toast.

A short while later Professor McGonagall appeared and handed them all a timetable. Lily was about to ask if she should take one for Remus but Professor McGonagall swept off up the table before she'd had a chance.

After looking at their timetable, they all left the Great Hall heading back up to the dormitories to get their books and then onto their first lesson.

The first lesson was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, which they were to take with the Ravenclaws. As they turned the corner into the corridor which held Professor McGonagall's classroom, they spotted Remus leaning up against the wall.

'Where have you been?' Sirius asked bluntly.

'Oh… hi, er, I was up early so I thought I'd explore for a bit,' Remus lied, surprising himself with how quickly and easily it had come.

'You went exploring and didn't invite us? Tut tut, Remus!' James laughed. 'Wake us up next time.'

Remus forced a smile onto his face, 'Okay, I will.'

'Hey, when did you get your timetable?' Sirius asked, suddenly realising that Remus had one in his hand but hadn't been there when they'd been handed out.

Before Remus could think up another lie, Professor McGonagall opened her classroom door and beckoned them in, silencing them all. They all filed in and found seats. The Ravenclaws took the seats at the front, leaving Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus to sit at the back with the Gryffindor girls in the row in front. As soon as they had settled, before they had a chance to talk, Professor McGonagall addressed them.

'Good morning class. Before we begin you should all know that I will not tolerate misbehaviour of _any_ kind in my classroom. I expect my students to work hard and to the best of their abilities, this cannot happen if students are late to lessons, talk unnecessarily or fool around during class. Transfiguration is one of the most complicated branches of magic, and the skill cannot be acquired without concentration and a lot of hard work.'

Professor McGonagall peered over her glasses at the class, who were now sitting in rapt attention, hardly daring to breathe let alone talk.

'Now that is out of the way, we can begin the lesson.'

After making a copious amount of complicated notes, Professor McGonagall handed everyone a matchstick and instructed them to turn them into needles. She strode up and down the rows of tables watching each of them attempt to transfigure their matchstick.

Each student had a look of immense concentration on their face, finding the practical part of the lesson much harder than they had imagined.

James was very pleased with himself when he became the first student in the class to make any change to his matchstick – it had become shiny and silvery with a point at one end, but the other end still had the round bulge of the matchstick instead of an eyehole.

'How did you manage that?' Sirius asked in amazement looking from James's matchstick to his own, which had not changed at all.

'Concentration and a lot of hard work,' James answered in a hushed voice, 'Oh, and natural talent of course.'

'Idiot!' Sirius whispered, stifling a giggle as Professor McGonagall approached their desk.

'Very good, Mr Potter,' Professor McGonagall said examining James's matchstick/needle. 'Five points to Gryffindor.'

She strolled back through the rows of desks to the front of the classroom, glancing at each desk as she passed.

Lily, along with Abigail, Isabel and Chloe, turned round in her seat to look at James's matchstick.

'Well done, James.' Abigail said flashing him a smile before turning back to her own matchstick with a look of determination, starting to realise that magic was a bit harder than she'd thought it would be.

Despite the best effort of the Gryffindors, the only other student to make any change to their needle by the end of the lesson was Melissa Hutchinson in the front row, earning Ravenclaw five points. Lily felt slightly dejected that she'd failed to perform her first bit of magic, but noticing the similar glum looks on Remus and Peter's faces she decided she shouldn't feel too bad, she wasn't the only one and it wasn't because she was muggle-born.

As they packed away their things at the sound of the bell and started edging out of the classroom, Professor McGonagall turned back to the class as she wiped the board with a swish of her wand.

'Potter, Black, I would like a word.'

As the rest of the class filed out of the room in silence, James and Sirius swung their bags onto their shoulders and made their way to the front of the classroom, wondering what on earth Professor McGonagall could want with them. They found out once the last student had left the room and closed the door behind them.

'Would either of you care to explain what happened on the train yesterday?' Professor McGonagall asked, her lips pursed and her eyebrows raised, looking sterner than ever.

James and Sirius looked at each other, a puzzled look on their faces, wondering how on earth Professor McGonagall had found out about the dung-bomb, and how is was them that had set it off. After a brief pause, Sirius answered Professor McGonagall.

'We don't know what you are talking about, Professor, nothing happened on the train yesterday… at least not as far as we know,' he lied.

'Really? Let me refresh your memory!' Professor McGonagall said scanning their faces. 'A dung-bomb was let off in one of the carriages and Mildred, the witch with the tea trolley, was left injured and highly shaken after a student careered into her trolley. You have both been identified as the culprits; Narcissa Black, your cousin I do believe, Sirius, witnessed the incident and informed Professor Slughorn after Mildred reported the incident. Now, I ask again, would you care to explain?'

A flash of anger crossed Sirius's face. Despite his statement at breakfast, he was very bothered by Narcissa's interference; she was not just trying to get him in trouble with his parents, but at school too. She'd gone too far. He stopped himself from saying anything, knowing that if he did his tone would be angry and hostile, and he did not think that would do him any favours.

'It was an accident, Professor,' James said quietly, looking suitably remorseful. 'We never meant to hurt the witch with the tea trolley. We're very sorry.'

Sirius continued to stare at his shoes, quietly seething.

'And what about the dung-bomb, was that an accident? Are you sorry about that?'

Both Sirius and James nodded.

'Both of you will be serving detention with me on Friday. I expect better from Gryffindor's, and now that you are in my house you will conduct yourselves in an appropriate manner. I do not want to have to speak to you two about your behaviour again. Do you understand?' Again James and Sirius nodded, looking shamefaced. 'You better hurry to your next class; you don't want another detention in your first week!'

They left the classroom as quickly as they could, not talking until they were well out of earshot of Professor McGonagall.

'Can you believe her?' Sirius said angrily, kicking the wall as they walked.

'Come on mate, to be fair, she could have been a lot harder on us. One detention isn't so bad, and at least we'll be doing it together,' James replied, trying to sooth Sirius's temper.

'Not McGonagall, Narcissa! I knew she'd be determined to get me in trouble at home but I didn't think she'd try it at school. I bet she wouldn't have said anything to Slughorn if I'd been in Slytherin.'

'Maybe not,' James said, rummaging through his bag for his timetable. 'But she'll get bored of trying to get you into trouble soon.'

'Yeah, maybe,' Sirius shrugged. Then more enthusiastically, said, 'I will get my revenge though!'

'I'm sure you will,' James grinned. 'Come on, we better get to charms, we don't want to be in trouble twice in one day.'

With Sirius in a slightly better mood than when he'd left McGonagall's classroom, they raced off to find the charms classroom.


	6. Detentions and Full Moons

**6. Detentions and Full Moons**

The first week of term went by quickly. The first years all settled into the routine of their classes and life in general at Hogwarts. None of the other teachers seemed to be as strict as Professor McGonagall and, despite the hard work and huge amounts of homework they were set, most of the classes were quite enjoyable.

James and Sirius had been disappointed to find that they had to spend three of their classes with the Slytherins and complained loudly about it. Lily, however, had been delighted that she would be sharing some of her classes with Severus and wouldn't be completely separated from her friend during her time at Hogwarts. Potions quickly became Lily's favourite subject. Not only did she share this class with Severus, sitting with him in the front row, but she also found that she had a real aptitude for the subject. Whilst she found that magic wasn't as hard as she had imagined it would be, it wasn't as easy as Abigail had been convinced it would be. And so, in her first potions lesson, Lily was thrilled when she managed to make a perfect healing potion on her first attempt, earning herself ten house-points from Professor Slughorn.

It seemed that the subject Lily excelled in was the one subject that James didn't. Professor Slughorn had not been impressed with the gloopy brown liquid that was bubbling in James and Sirius's cauldron at the end of the lesson. He had given them extra homework, warning them they needed to pay more attention to making potions and less time playing with the ingredients. The two boys had groaned at the thought of extra homework and, not wanting Lily and Snivellus to outdo them in any class, vowed to work harder in that class.

In the evenings Sirius, James and Peter were usually found in the corner of the common room, playing wizards chess (James and Sirius playing and Peter watching or doing his homework), playing exploding snap, or simply talking and laughing loudly. Unlike James and Sirius, who were rarely seen doing their homework, Remus spent his evenings doing his homework in the library, only returning to Gryffindor tower just before curfew. He didn't join the others when he returned though; he went straight up to the dormitory on his own.

The girls also spent their evenings in the common room, although they were much quieter than James and Sirius and were usually found working on the latest piece of homework. Lily, like Remus, was often absent from the group before curfew, spending her time in the library with Severus, working on the subjects they took together. Unlike Remus, Lily always joined her dorm mates when she returned to the common room.

Thursday evening was no different. James and Sirius had rushed through their extra potions homework (which was due the next day) and were playing a rowdy game of exploding snap while Peter still had his head in his charms book trying to complete the homework on levitation charms. As usual, when curfew time was upon them, the common room filled up as students returned from their jaunts. As usual, Remus greeted his dorm mates but did not stop to socialise, walking straight past them and up to the dormitory.

'He's the sort of boy your mum would want you to befriend, James!' Sirius stated nodding to the staircase Remus had just vanished to. 'Shame really, I don't think he likes us much.'

'I don't know, he sits with us in class and is perfectly friendly.' James replied as Sirius slammed his card on the table shouting snap. The cards exploded, making Peter jump and drop his book. James laughed and continued, 'besides, who could possible not like us?'

'A certain red-head and her hook nosed friend don't think much of us!' Sirius replied, his eyes focused on Lily who was glaring back at him in irritation at the noise they were making.

'Pfft, they don't count, Sirius!' James laughed, his back to Lily's glare.

The boys went back to their game, forgetting about Remus. It was almost midnight when Peter had finished his homework and had asked to join in the game. Sirius was just about to deal out the cards when he saw the girls get up from the sofa and make their way to the portrait hole.

'You'll have to finish your homework quicker next time, Peter.' Sirius said, putting the cards away. 'I think it's time for astronomy.'

The three boys grabbed their telescopes and bags and followed the girls out into the seventh floor corridor. None of them had been out of Gryffindor tower after curfew and the castle seemed very different now night had fallen. The corridors were now deserted and silent, apart from the sound of their footsteps and whispers, and the dim, flickering light from the lanterns made the castle seem eerie – nothing like the light, noisy, laughter filled corridors they knew.

The girls made their way to the Astronomy tower, huddled together nervously as if something was going to jump out at them; Sirius and James didn't help, making strange noises and making them jump in fright. Peter found it highly amusing, so did Abigail until she was told not to encourage them by an even more irritated Lily and Chloe.

They finally made it up the steep, spiral staircase of the Astronomy tower and pushed open the door at the top. Professor Sinistra was there to meet them, and several Hufflepuff students were already setting up their telescopes.

'Good evening. Please find a space and set up your equipment, we'll start when the last few students are here,' Professor Sinistra said cheerily.

'Oh! We didn't get Remus! Maybe he forgot, do you think we should go back and get him?' Peter asked, struggling with his telescope.

'No, I'm sure he'll turn up. If he'd stayed in the common room with us he would have been here by now! It's his own fault if he's forgotten!'

Remus hadn't forgotten. He arrived at the top of the Astronomy tower a few minutes after the others, just missing Sirius's little speech. He sat down next to Peter and set up his equipment.

'Hey, Remus,' said Peter cheerily, still struggling to put his telescope stand together. 'Are you alright? You look a bit pale.'

'Just a bit off colour, I'll be fine in a day or two,' Remus answered semi-truthfully. 'Do you need a hand with that?'

As Remus took Peter's equipment from him, two more Hufflepuff students burst through the door, out of breath from running. 'Ooh look it's a full moon,' one of them exclaimed, pointing to the sky. Everyone looked up to see the moon shining brightly among the numerous twinkling stars in the cloudless sky.

'Not quite,' Professor Sinistra stated, 'that's tomorrow night!'

Remus had been the only student not to look up at the Hufflepuff's statement and now avoided looking at anyone, putting his concentration on Peter's telescope. He shuddered inwardly and felt himself pale. He was more than aware that tomorrow was the night of the full moon, and he was horrified that it had been announced to his fellow students.

Professor Sinistra started the lesson and Remus tried to concentrate, tried to identify the different constellations. But his eyes kept wandering to the moon that seemed to be taunting him, reminding him that he wasn't like his peers.

Thankfully Peter did not try to engage Remus in conversation during the lesson. It appeared that he was good at this subject and so put all his attention to the lesson, feeling pleased with himself. To Remus the lesson seemed to drag on for an age, but eventually it came to an end. Professor Sinistra set their homework and dismissed them. Remus trudged back to Gryffindor tower, following the other exhausted Gryffindors in silence.

The next day, after the last lesson, Remus was sat in the dormitory alone. James and Sirius, who had decided to enjoy some free time before their detention that evening, had dumped their bags in the dormitory and then rushed back out again. Peter, not wanting to miss out on anything, had followed them – but not before inviting Remus to come. Remus had told him he still wasn't feeling well and that he'd rather stay in the dormitory.

He leant back against his pillows feeling slightly relieved that the others weren't there and that he had a little more time to come up with a believable story. He had not thought of any good excuses for his impending absence tonight and had been worrying about it all day. What with having to think up an excuse and the fact that tonight would be the full moon – his first at Hogwarts, on his own – he had not been able to concentrate in any of his classes that day.

His flying lesson had been a disaster. He had had real difficulty getting his broom to hover over the ground, and when he had managed it and climbed on, he fell straight back off again. This was made worse by the fact that James had a natural talent for broomstick riding and made it look so easy.

Potions lesson hadn't been any better. His potion, which was supposed to be a simple healing potion, had started bubbling furiously and filled the room with a foul stench, making everyone gag and cover their noses – including Professor Slughorn. He had been very nice about it, simply vanishing the potion from Remus's cauldron and stating that he must have added twice as much Horned slug and forgotten the lavender.

Although today had been much worse, the whole week had been hard. He had been spending as much of his free time as possible away from the other three Gryffindor boys. Part of him – the sensible Remus – believed that it was best to stay away, not to get close. But another part of him – the eleven year old, fun loving Remus – wanted to join in the fun and bond with the others. Sensible Remus always won. By avoiding Sirius, James and Peter in the evenings, not only would it keep them at arm's length, it would also make his absence tonight less obvious. They would be used to him not being there and would not be concerned. At least he hoped so!

He lay on his bed in silence until it was time to meet Professor McGonagall. Starting to feel sick with nerves, he slowly made his way out of the dormitory and down the stairs to the common room. The common room was relatively busy and noisy, students getting ready to go down to the great hall for dinner. Remus, not looking at anyone and hoping no-one was looking at him, quickened his pace as he walked through the common room and followed two third year Gryffindors out of the portrait hole. Oh how he wished he could follow them all the way to the Great Hall, that his journey was just the usual walk down to dinner as he turned down the opposite corridor from them.

Feeling lonely and scared, he hurried through the almost deserted corridors and down the many staircases to Professor McGonagall's office.

When he reached the office he knocked on the door and, hearing Professor McGonagall call for him to come in, pushed the door open and entered. Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk sorting through a small pile of paperwork.

'Good evening, Mr Lupin,' she said, looking up at Remus as he closed the door behind him.

'Good evening, Professor,' Remus replied quietly, thinking there was nothing good about this particular evening.

Professor McGonagall vanished her paperwork with the swish of her wand and stood up. 'If you are ready, Mr Lupin, we shall go. It is best if you are not seen leaving the castle, so I shall be taking you on an alternative route to avoid the entrance hall and the main doors.'

Remus, feeling unable to speak, simply nodded.

They left Professor McGonagall's office and headed down the second floor corridor in the opposite direction to the main staircase. A short way along the corridor they turned down another one, which was smaller and narrower with few doors leading off it. They stopped beside two identical, small statues and Professor McGonagall tapped the stone wall with her wand. The section of wall between the statues moved back and slid to the side revealing a steep, narrow staircase. The only light within was from the dim light of the windowless corridor they were stood in.

Professor McGonagall ushered him inside and the wall slid back into place behind them. It was now pitch black. Professor McGonagall flicked her wand and a few candles, sporadically spaced along the walls, lit up but barely took away the darkness, making Remus shiver slightly at the eeriness of the flickering light.

Seeing the surprise, mingled with nerves, on Remus's face, Professor McGonagall said, 'There are many secret passages within this castle, I am sure that even Headmaster Dumbledore does not know all of them. This one leads us out into the grounds.'

They fell silent and carefully made their way down the steps and, when they reached the bottom, along a short passage. At the end of this passage McGonagall turned to Remus, tapping him on the head with his wand. Remus felt a rush of cold run over him, and turned to Professor McGonagall with a perplexed expression.

'It's just a simple Disillusionment charm, Mr Lupin. I will remove it once we are out of sight.' McGonagall then tapped her wand on the wall again. This time a much smaller opening was revealed, just wide enough for them to squeeze through. 'Follow me, Mr Lupin.'

They came out of the passage at the side of the castle, directly opposite the Whomping Willow. The sun was getting low in the sky, barely visible above the tall trees of the forbidden forest, and the air was fresh and clear. Remus took a deep, calming breath and followed Professor McGonagall across the grass towards the Whomping Willow. Although the distance of the tree was not far, it felt like the longest walk he'd ever taken.

The branches of the Whomping Willow were thrashing violently and Remus wondered how on earth they would get past them to get to the tunnel Professor Dumbledore had said was hidden beneath it. As they approached the tree, which seemed to get more violent the nearer they got, Professor McGonagall picked up a large stick from the floor and prodded at the base of the tree. The branches immediately became unnaturally still, as if it had been turned to stone.

'Quickly, Mr Lupin.'

Remus who was looking up at the branches incredulously, turned to see Professor McGonagall standing beside a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow, waiting for him to climb into it.

Apprehensively he stepped into the hole and carefully made his way down the earthy slope to the tunnel, Professor McGonagall right behind him. The tunnel was dark and the roof of it was so low that he had to stoop down low to walk through it.

Remus's heart thumped louder and faster with each step he took. The tunnel seemed to go on forever but, after what felt like hours, it eventually started to rise and the straight path they had been taking veered to the right. A small hole ahead indicated the end of the tunnel. Remus climbed through the opening into a spacious room, lit only by the few rays of evening sun that managed to creep through the gaps in the boarded up windows. Remus was surprised to see that it had been decorated with cream wallpaper, curtains had been hung at the window and that it had been filled with furniture; a navy three-seater sofa beneath the window, a mahogany coffee table in the middle of the room on a navy rug, and a dining table and two wooden chairs along the wall opposite the window. If the windows were free from boards it would have been a pleasant living space.

Although Remus appreciated the obvious effort that had been put into making the inside of the shack homely and inhabitable, it did not improve his mood; nothing could relieve the fear and loneliness he felt at that moment. Letting out a sigh Remus sat down stiffly at the table, still taking in his surroundings. Professor McGonagall joined him at the table and, with a flick of her wand, produced a huge plate of food and a goblet full of juice out of thin air.

'As I promised, Remus, as good a meal as you have received if you were dining in the Great Hall,' she said placing a hand lightly on Remus's shoulder.

Remus looked down at the plate of food in front of him. A mound of creamy mashed potatoes, big tender pork chops and a wide variety of vegetables, all smothered in thick rich gravy. At any other time he would have been salivating just from the smell, but not tonight. Tonight he had no appetite. The thought of eating made him feel sick, it had done all day. He thanked Professor McGonagall but, with an apologetic look, pushed the plate away from him.

'You must try to eat something, Remus,' Professor McGonagall said softly.

'I will Professor,' Remus lied, knowing that not a morsel of the meal would pass his lips.

'Good. You have a short while before the sun sets, have a look around, familiarise yourself with your surroundings. There are two rooms and a bathroom upstairs, and a kitchen down the hall. It has all been decorated, in the hope that you would feel more at home, a bit more relaxed before...' Professor McGonagall's voice wavered, 'before you transform. I must return to the school now, but I shall return in the morning with Madam Pomfrey. I hope... I'm sure... You'll be...' She trailed off. What did she hope? What was she sure of? What was he going to be? Nothing she said could possibly make this any easier for him and for the first time in her life she didn't have the right words to say.

With a heavy heart, Professor McGonagall bade farewell to Remus and climbed back through the hole and out of the shack. She felt terrible leaving him, a frightened, lonely, innocent young boy alone to deal with his demons, but she knew there was nothing more she could do. It was too dangerous for her to stay.

Remus was now alone. More alone than he had ever felt.

Not knowing what else to do in the time before the moon rose, he took McGonagall's advice and wandered through the silent, deserted house. Each room was decorated and furnished as nicely as the living room but Remus felt it was shame so much effort had been put into the place because by morning it would look completely different.

When he returned to the living room it was getting much darker and Remus knew that within an hour he would no longer be himself, he would be a dangerous, monstrous beast. He sat down on the sofa and waited.

His mother would usually be talking to him now, her calm, soothing voice would be coming from the other side of the locked basement door, easing his nerves, relaxing him, reassuring him. He wanted his mum. He wanted to be at home in his undecorated, unfurnished basement with his mum.

He closed his eyes, picturing his mother's face, imagining her voice.

_'It's ok Remus, I'm here. You're not alone. Everything will be alright. I love you Remus.'_

If he kept his eyes closed it would feel as though she was here. If he kept his eyes closed she would be with him all night. He pressed his eyelids tighter together.

His body went rigid, excruciating pain shooting up and down it. His limbs began to shake.

_'It's ok Remus, I'm here.'_

A sharp, intense pain ran down his spine as it arched, changing shape, making his shoulders hunch. His breathing became faster and deeper, his heart beating fast.

_'You're not alone.'_

His face stretched agonisingly, his jaws became longer, more powerful. His teeth became sharp and pointed.

_'Everything will be alright.'_

His hands and feet became paws. His nails became claws. Pain travelled through his limbs as they snapped and reformed.

_'I love you, Remus.'_

Hair sprouted all over his body, prickling his skin. His mind became blurred.

_'It's ok Remus, I'm here. You're not alone. Everything will be alright. I love you...'_

His mother's voice grew fainter and fainter, her face faded into nothingness. She was gone. So was Remus.

The wolf had taken over his body and mind much quicker than usual. Remus usually managed to prevent the wolf from completely taking over his mind, to begin with anyway. Not tonight though. He didn't have the energy or state of mind to fight it; the loneliness and despair he felt erased the need to.

Unlike Remus, the wolf was hungry. Sitting on his hind legs, his head raised, he howled long and loud. Standing up onto all fours he prowled around the room snarling and sniffing the air. He caught the scent of the untouched meal on the table. His heightened sense of smell picked up the aroma of the meat. It wasn't fresh and raw as he preferred but it was meat.

He snapped at the pork chops with hungry jaws, swallowing them in two gulps. Uninterested in the rest of the meal, he knocked the plate off the table. Mashed potato, vegetables and gravy splashed up the wall and the plate clattered to the floor and smashed. Still hungry, and now getting angry, he circled the room growling menacingly, before pouncing at the furniture, tearing into it with his powerful jaws, clawing at it with his strong paws, in search of more food.

After searching the whole house he'd found nothing and discovered no way out. In desperation he bit at himself, drawing blood. The wolf carried on all night; biting at himself, howling in pain before turning his attention to the furniture or hurling himself at the walls, then back to himself again, never relenting, never getting tired.

* * *

At midnight, after spending four hours in Professor McGonagall's classroom writing an essay on the reasons practical jokes should not be played on others and the consequences these could have on others, James and Sirius trudged back to Gryffindor Tower, tired and moaning.

'That was pointless. Three rolls of parchment each! What a waste of time!'

'It would have only been two rolls if McGonagall hadn't caught us messing about when she left the room. I bet she was waiting outside the door to catch us out! My hand's aching from all that writing,' James whispered as they crossed the deserted common room and mounted the stairs to the dormitory.

'Mine too. I don't think I've ever spent so much time writing non-stop. I probably need a new quill too – perhaps I'll invest in a self writing one!'

'Good idea.'

They pushed open the dormitory door and found it was dark and silent. Peter and Remus were obviously fast asleep. Without a word they changed into their pyjamas and crawled into bed.

'Night, Sirius,' James yawned pulling his duvet around him.

'Night, James,' Sirius mumbled, his eyes already closed, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

A.N - Hey, thanks for reading :-) this is the last of the pre-written chapters, so updates will not be as frequent - sorry! Hope you continue to read and enjoy. Please make my day and leave a review x


	7. Letters Home

**7. Letters Home**

The following morning, as the sun began to rise over Hogwarts, the wolf slowly transformed back into Remus. He sat slumped on the floor of the Shrieking Shack, breathing heavily and bleeding, unable to move. He glanced miserably around the once pristine room at the destruction he had caused, then, injured and exhausted, he passed out.

'My goodness, Minerva!' Madam Pomfrey gasped as she and Professor McGonagall crept through the trapdoor into the shack moments later. 'What has that poor boy been through? Look at him!'

'I know, Poppy, I've been worrying about him all night. I didn't imagine we would find him quite as bad as this.' Professor McGonagall replied, shocked as she took in the battered form of Remus sprawled on the floor, the chairs broken, the sofa torn and demolished and the deep claw marks on the bars of the windows. It looked like a pack of wolves had been there, not just one. 'His parents informed us his transformations were far more controlled of late, that Remus returned to them with minimal injuries now.'

'Ah, Minerva, that may well be true... at home.' Madam Pomfrey stated as she carefully levitated Remus onto the sofa that Professor McGonagall had mended with a flick of her wand. 'He's in a strange environment, away from his parents – probably for the first time since he was bitten - and now he has far more to worry about than he did at home, that's bound to have affected his transformations.'

Professor McGonagall nodded sadly then turned away from Madam Pomfrey and Remus, waving her wand around the room, repairing the furniture and decor, not wanting Remus to see the room in its present state. Madam Pomfrey tended to Remus's wounds as best she could before conjuring a stretcher and transferring Remus onto it.

'I have done all I can here, Minerva, I will be able to Heal him better in the hospital wing.'

Professor McGonagall gave a final flick of her wand, sending the newly mended curtains back into place at the boarded window, and nodded her agreement. 'Yes, we must get him back to the castle before the other students awake.'

Remus was levitated back to the castle under the cover of an invisibility cloak. Once in the hospital wing he was placed in a bed at the far end of the ward with the curtains drawn around him. Madam Pomfrey enervated him just long enough to administer his various healing potions before putting him into a deep, painless sleep to aid his recovery.

* * *

Lily had awoken early that morning and had taken parchment and quill down to the deserted common room to write a letter to her parents. She had sent a brief letter home when she had arrived at Hogwarts a week ago but had had no reply. She was starting to feel a bit homesick and was keen to hear from home – and was desperate to patch things up with Petunia. She had never gone so long without speaking to her and the last conversation she'd had with her sister was playing on her mind. The anger Lily had felt at the time had gone and she now felt certain that Petunia had only said those things to hurt her because Petunia herself was hurt that they'd be separated. Lily knew her sister and was sure that they could work things out and once again be as close as they had always been.

With that thought Lily finished her letter to her parents, got a fresh sheet of parchment and began writing a separate letter to Petunia. Lily found this letter much harder to write. She felt Petunia would not want a gushing report of how wonderful Hogwarts was, unlike her parents to whom she had detailed everything. At the same time she could not act like she wasn't a witch and that hers and Petunia's separation wasn't because she was attending a magical school – a place Petunia would never go or belong even though she obviously wanted to – Petunia's letter from Dumbledore that she and Severus had found was evidence to this even though Petunia denied it.

So, Lily decided to write, not about magic and the magical side of Hogwarts, but about the everyday stuff about her new school, the kind of stuff any normal child would write home about, being careful not to mention magic too much. She started the letter saying how much she missed Petunia and reminiscing about things they used to do together, hoping this would remind her that she was still the Lily she'd always known and loved. She then went on to talk about the size of the castle, how beautiful the grounds were, her new friends and other non-magical aspects of her new life.

By the time Lily had finished her letter she felt more positive that things would return to normal between her and Petunia and began to feel happier. She was just signing the letter 'Lots of love, your sister, Lily xx' when her dorm mates came down the stairs from the dormitory.

'We wondered where you'd got to!' Chloe said with a smile, making Lily look up.

'_Please_ tell me you did not get up early to do homework!' Abigail stated in mock horror as she looked at Lily with the quill in her hand.

'No!' Lily laughed folding up the letter and putting it into her bag with the letter to her parents. 'I was just writing a letter to my family. You girls ready for breakfast? I'm starving.'

'Yep, let's go otherwise there'll be no food left!' Abigail said leading the others to the portrait hole, looking up at the notice-board as she passed. 'Ooh, Quidditch tryouts next Saturday. Isabel, didn't you say your brother was Quidditch captain? We should go along to watch.' Abigail did not wait for a reply as she continued out of the common room into the seventh floor corridor.

The walk to the Great Hall was dominated by talk of Quidditch which continued throughout breakfast. Abigail, having never seen or even heard about Quidditch before now was interrogating Isobel about the game. Lily, being as oblivious about Quidditch as Abigail, was interested in the conversation but was keeping her eyes on the entrance to the Great Hall, waiting for Severus to come in as she'd arranged to meet him here after breakfast.

'So, there are three different balls and four different types of players?' Abigail was asking as she devoured her pancakes. 'Which does your brother play?'

'He's a chaser, there are three chasers on the team,' Isobel replied. 'Ryan said they need a new chaser, a new goalkeeper _and_ a new seeker this year.'

'That's like half the team!' Abigail said counting the players on her fingers. 'Maybe we could try out for the team. That would be cool!'

'I don't think that's a good idea, you've only been on a broom once and that was hardly what I'd call flying, more hovering unsteadily a foot above the ground.' Chloe stated amused.

Abigail scowled at Chloe briefly, then brightened. 'Suppose you're right, we'll have to make do with watching for now then.'

'I think you will, Abigail. Ryan said first years never make the team anyway,' Isabel informed her.

'Oh well, there's always next year.' Abigail replied. 'So, what shall we do today then girls?'

Lily looked up from her now empty bowl of cornflakes and saw Severus getting up from the Slytherin table, wondering how she had not noticed him entering the Great Hall. 'I'll meet you all later, I want to send this letter and I said I'd meet Severus this morning. See you back here at lunch?'

Lily got up from the table and hurried over to the entrance of the Great Hall. 'Hi, Severus! I hope you haven't got any homework to do today, I finished all mine last night so that we didn't have to go to the library again today, thought we could see a bit more of the castle today.' Lily said as she greeted Severus and linked his arm, leading him out of the Great Hall.

'Good to see you too, Lily!' Severus replied, grinning at her. 'All homework is done so we can steer well clear of the library today. Where shall we go first then?'

'I need to send a letter to my parents and Petunia, so first stop is the Owlery.' Lily led Severus towards the main staircase. 'I sent them a letter last week but haven't had a reply. They can't have forgotten about me already.'

'Your parents would never forget about you, Lily. Did you tell the owl you sent to wait for a reply?'

'No! I didn't even think of that, Sev. I forgot they can't just send letters in the normal way. It's a good job I've got you, seems I've got _a lot_ to learn.'

'You'll get used to it soon enough, Lily, then you'll be forgetting how to do things the muggle way!' Severus declared, a slightly hopeful tone in his voice.

'I doubt that, Severus.' Lily laughed. 'Actually, my letter to Petunia makes it sound like I've forgotten that I'm a witch.'

As they walked Lily explained to Severus about her letter to Petunia and how different it was to the letter she was sending to her parents.

'Why should you pretend you're not a witch, Lily? If Petunia doesn't like you because of what you are then she's an idiot, and she's not worth your time.' Severus stated with conviction.

'If it was anyone else I'd agree with you, Severus. But she's my sister and I love her.'

Lily was taken aback by Severus's bluntness, but brushed it off as they reached the Owlery. Lily unfolded both the letters and quickly added a line to tell them to send a reply with the owl. She chose one of the school barn owls, secured her letters to it and told it to make sure it came back with a reply. Her and Severus watched the owl take flight out of the window and soar off across the grounds.

'Come on, Severus, I want to go down to the lake and see if we can spot the giant squid.'

* * *

Having gone to bed so early the previous night, Peter had awoken relatively early that morning, noting that Remus had gotten up even earlier than he had as the bed was empty and neatly made. Peter could hear the low snores emanating from behind the closed curtains of Sirius and James's beds and knew it would be a while before they woke up. He decided that he would go down to breakfast, hoping that Remus would be there to keep him company.

But Remus was not in the Great Hall when Peter got there, and did not turn up for the entire hour that he sat there watching numerous students come and go. He finished his breakfast and slowly made his way back up to Gryffindor tower and into the empty common room. Peter flopped dejectedly into the comfy sofa by the window and sighed. He hated being alone.

He gazed out of the window deep in thought. He wondered where Remus had got to this morning and, for that matter, where Remus had got to every evening since he'd arrived at Hogwarts. It seemed to Peter that while he hated his own company, Remus appeared to prefer his own company to that of others. Yes, he spoke to the other Gryffindor boys during class and occasionally sat with them for meals, but he didn't socialise with them at any other time. In fact, Peter had not seen him with any other students either. Peter felt this was a shame as the few conversations he had had with Remus had made Peter like him, and he felt they could become good friends. He decided that next time he saw Remus he would make an extra effort to get to know him better.

Peter stopped thinking about Remus and turned away from the window. He decided to pass some time while he was on his own by writing a letter to his mother. This was out of boredom rather that really wanting to, having sent a letter when he'd first arrived at Hogwarts.

It didn't take him long to write the letter and he was contemplating whether to wait for James and Sirius any longer or just make his way to the Owlery by himself when he heard footsteps coming down the staircase leading to the boys dormitory.

'... have you got any dung bombs left?' Sirius's voice drifted down the staircase into the Common room.

'Of course, I brought loads. I think it's a bit early to be using them again though. Old McGonagall will know it was us and we'll probably end up with a week's worth of detention.'

'I guess you're right, maybe next weekend then... that would give us time to find the Slytherin dorms!'

James and Sirius entered the Common room laughing and turned in surprise as Peter jumped up from the sofa shoving his letter in his pocket and squeaking, 'Thought you two were never going to wake up! I have been so bored!'

'We deserved a lie in this morning, Peter, we had a hard detention last night,' Sirius replied bluntly. 'And we're not the only students in the school, you didn't have to sit up here on your own waiting for us.'

Seeing the eager smile fall from Peter's face, James laughed and walked over to Peter giving him a friendly slap on the back. 'Ignore him. He's just grumpy because I wouldn't let him use my dung bombs. You can consider your boredom gone, we're here now!'

'I'm not grumpy! I was just saying that we didn't ask him to wait for us. He could have joined Remus in the library, or wherever it is he spends his time, or failing that there's always the girls.'

Peter felt a bit hurt by Sirius's attitude. He couldn't understand why Sirius would be so irritated that he had waited for them, he thought it was a nice thing. If he found someone waiting for him, wanting to spend time with him he would have been pleased. Obviously Sirius did not feel the same way and made Peter feel like an unwanted stalker. So, Peter retorted defensively.

'Well, I did look for Remus but couldn't find him. And I did sit with the girls at breakfast.' Peter didn't feel that it was necessary to inform them that he hadn't joined in with the girls' conversation, or even greeted them for that matter, but had merely sat next to them listening in to their conversation. That would have made him sound more needy and stalker-like, not less. 'They were going on about Quidditch and the tryouts next weekend. Apparently Isobel's brother is the captain for Gryffindor.'

'Did you say Quidditch tryouts? Next weekend?' James asked excitedly, bounding over to the notice board to see the announcement for himself. He grinned when he saw that Peter was not lying and that it was indeed the following Saturday at eleven. 'Hey, Sirius, are you going to try out with me?'

Sirius laughed and joined James at the notice board. 'Nah, wouldn't want to embarrass myself flying next to the great James Potter, from what you say I couldn't possibly compete!'

'You're trying out for the team, James?' Peter asked incredulously, to which James replied with an eager nod. 'But Isobel said first years never make the team.'

'Pah!' James snorted. 'What does she know? They just haven't had a first year with my amazing Quidditch skills yet!'

'Yeah, Peter, you saw him in flying lessons, he was by far the best in the class.' Sirius stated then added to James thoughtfully, 'You're going to need a broom though mate.'

'And that will be our mission for today. I will beg, borrow or steal to acquire a broom by the end of the day!' James replied animatedly. 'Firstly I'll send a letter to my dad asking him to send my broom.'

James rushed over to where Peter had been sitting waiting for them and grabbed the parchment and quill that Peter had left on the table. 'I know my dad will send it – as long as he doesn't get caught by my mum!' James said whilst leaning over the table hastily scribbling a note. 'He was on the team when he was at school and he'll be ecstatic if I make the team in my first year.'

James finished writing, stuffed the note in his pocket and bounded past the other two boys to the portrait hole. 'Come on then you two. We'll go to the Owlery first and then we'll go and find Madam Higgins.'

Sirius and Peter followed James out into the seventh floor corridor. Peter was beaming as he trotted along to keep up with the others. The rejection he'd felt at Sirius's comments earlier had been replaced with happiness that he was being included in this 'mission'. As they hurried through the corridors to the Owlery, the boys debated the best way to get Madam Higgins to lend him a broom for the week if James's dad failed to send his own. They settled on flattery followed by good old fashioned begging.

By the time they had reached the Owlery and sent both James's and Peter's letters – James's with his own owl, Screech, and Peter's with one of the school barn owls – it was almost lunchtime. Sirius managed to convince an impatient and eager James to have lunch before setting off to find Madam Higgins the flying teacher, pointing out that they'd already missed breakfast and needed to eat. And that this would give James's dad time to reply to the note, hopefully making the mission to find Madam Higgins unnecessary.

Lunch passed without sign of a reply from James's dad. So Sirius and Peter agreed to help James find Madam Higgins. The first part of the afternoon was spent traipsing the corridors searching for the staffroom, unsuccessfully. They had managed to find a secret passage on the third floor though when Sirius nudged Peter slightly harder than intended and he'd gone flying through a tapestry into a narrow passageway. The boys had followed the passage and found themselves on the fifth floor.

'I bet this castle has tons of secret passageways and shortcuts.' Sirius had exclaimed. 'That can be our next mission, to find some more exciting ones.'

They had wandered back to the main staircase hoping to spot a Professor they could follow to the staff room, but there was not a person in sight. Peter suggested they make their way down to the Quidditch pitch, seeing as they weren't having much luck in the castle. Sirius glanced at Peter in surprise. 'That's actually a good idea, Peter, come on lets go.'

They reached the Quidditch pitch and were delighted to find Madam Higgins in the broom cupboard, evidently sorting through the school brooms. A pile of battered looking brooms were strewn in a pile just outside the cupboard and Madam Higgins had a broom in her hands performing restorative charms upon it. She finished her charm, inspected the broom and then placed it back in the rack. She picked up the next broom which looked extremely shabby. As she turned to throw the broom on the discarded pile without even attempting to mend it, she started in surprise to see the three boys standing in front of her grinning.

'Hello boys, what are you doing down here? I was just having a clear out of the brooms, some of them are in a real state and this cupboard is getting a bit cluttered.' She said as she brushed dust off her robes.

'We could help you, Professor,' James offered, thinking this would put him in favour with the flying teacher.

'That's a lovely offer... Potter is it?' James nodded his assent. 'I should remember your name, fantastic bit of flying the other day. But I'm nearly done here thank you. Now, what can I do for you boys?'

'Well, Professor, I want to try out for the Quidditch team but as first years aren't allowed their own brooms I was hoping you would be kind enough to let me borrow one of the school brooms for the tryouts.'

'Really? You do know that we have never had a first year in any of the house teams?'

'But there's no rule saying that they can't is there Professor?' James asked, beginning to feel frustrated at being told yet again that first years never made the team.

'No, Potter, there isn't. And if you can find a broom in a fit state to use for that kind of flying I would be happy for you to borrow it. What house are you in?'

'Gryffindor.' James grinned at how easy this had been.

'Ah, your tryouts are next Saturday then. If you meet me here before tryouts start I can let you select a broom.'

'Could I not borrow one now so I can practice? I promise I'd look after it.'

'Sorry, Potter, I can't do that. I cannot allow first years to fly unsupervised, it's more than my jobs worth!' Madam Higgins picked up the last broom from the cupboard and quickly chucked it on the discard pile in disgust. 'The best I can do is to lend you a broom for tryouts. Now, I'm sorry boys but I'm late for a meeting with the headmaster. I'm hoping he will approve funding for some new brooms – if you're lucky Potter they may come before next week.'

James thanked Madam Higgins, knowing it was futile to pursue the matter and not wanting to irritate her and make her change her mind about lending him a broom at all. They left Madam Higgins locking up the broom cupboard and made their way back to the castle, James feeling despondent and the others trying to cheer him up.

'Look on the bright side; at least she agreed to lend you a broom for the tryouts.' Peter said cheerfully. 'And she said she thought you were a fantastic flyer.'

'Peter's right, James, at least you can tryout. And you never know, you're dad may still send your broom anyway.'

This comment seemed to cheer James up. It also gave Peter some hope that Sirius was slowly accepting him as a friend and not purely a hanger-on – he had agreed with Peter rather than scoffing at him and brushing his comments aside – for the second time that day.

They headed straight to the great hall for dinner. All through dinner, and for the rest of the evening, James kept a hopeful eye out for Screech. But Screech never came. Neither did Remus, although James was only alerted to this fact when Peter mentioned it to the others as they trudged up the stairs to the dormitory at midnight. Peter was concerned about Remus's whereabouts as although he was frequently missing during the evening he always returned to the dormitory before curfew. He was also concerned about Sirius and James's dismissive attitude to their fellow Gryffindor's absence. He wondered if they would notice if _he_ went missing!

* * *

AN - Thanks again for reading! Updates will be a bit erratic for the next few weeks as I will have limited time to write and I have only got 1/2 of the next chapter written so far. I would love to hear what you think - what's good, what's not so good etc, so please leave a review or 2 :-) xx


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